A Health Ministry report says that hospital occupancy rates in Israel stand at 95%, while the number of beds per citizens is decreasing - resulting in shorter hospital stays.
Hospitals say the Finance Ministry is to blame for refusing to allow an increase in hospital beds over the past several years. In Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, for instance, where the occupancy rate was 118% in 2006, some patients are put in the corridors, while others are released earlier than is desirable.
The highest occupancy rate was registered in Jerusalem's Shaarei Zedek Medical Center - 128%. Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem stood at 105%, while Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat had only 76%. The nationwide average of 95% is among the highest in the developed world.
In 2006, the number of beds per 1,000 citizens stood at 2.05, compared to 2.33 just the year before. By way of comparison, there are approximately 3 beds per 1,000 patients in England, and 6 in Germany.
The Health Ministry report showed that patients are hospitalized for an average of 4.1 days - shorter than in most other developed countries. Another chilling statistic told of approximately 22,000 people who died in general hospitals last year.
The number of hospitalization days per 1,000 citizens stood at 717 in 2006 - down from 762 six years earlier. This is more a result of the need to release patients early than improving health care methods, hospital officials say.
On the other hand, the national Sick Funds - the bodies responsible for paying for hospitalization - have begun to develop new methods of care for patients that obviate the need to hospitalize them.
The Health Ministry report comes less than a month after an international comparative study on the health systems of 30 developed countries found that Israel was near the bottom of the list. The study found that as the government spends progressively less on health, hospital bed occupancy rates rise. In addition, Israel has the second-highest rate of private expenditures on health services, one of the highest rates of patients per nurse, and a decreasing number of physicians.