(Tuesday, 20 Aug.) Efforts will continue today to end the crisis impacting government hospitals. Most government hospitals report supplies of disposables and pharmaceuticals are almost totally exhausted, and hospital staff is required to take supplies and needed drugs from one department to another, trying to maintain an acceptable level of care as inventory is all but depleted.
Some of the hospitals impacted by the critical shortage of medical supplies are Poriah Hospital in Tiberias, Ziv in Tzfat (Safed), the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Hillel Yafeh in Hadera, Wolfson in Holon, and Assaf HaRofeh in Tel Aviv.
Deputy Director of Assaf HaRofeh Hospital Dr. Yigal Halperin explains that efforts continue to push off all elective procedures to maximize the system's ability to treat medical emergencies. Halperin stated that hip and knees replacement surgeries and catheterization procedures are being deterred as a result of the crisis. Until hospitals can come up with the 250 million shekels owed to medical suppliers, new supplies will not be forthcoming. Hospital directors add cautiously that the amount is just the minimum required to get the system back on its feet.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Health Minister Nissim Dahan will meet today, together with senior Finance Ministry officials, in another effort to bring the current crisis to an end. Health community officials insist the solution will only come from the treasury and no other source.
One solution proposed earlier in the week is to raise the cost of hospitalization per day, but a senior official at the Maccabi HMO explains that would just be "giving aspirin to the patient," explaining that while it would generate a larger cash flow for government hospitals, a few months down the road, the HMOs would be striking – demanding they be bailed out of their monetary crisis.
Some of the hospitals impacted by the critical shortage of medical supplies are Poriah Hospital in Tiberias, Ziv in Tzfat (Safed), the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, Hillel Yafeh in Hadera, Wolfson in Holon, and Assaf HaRofeh in Tel Aviv.
Deputy Director of Assaf HaRofeh Hospital Dr. Yigal Halperin explains that efforts continue to push off all elective procedures to maximize the system's ability to treat medical emergencies. Halperin stated that hip and knees replacement surgeries and catheterization procedures are being deterred as a result of the crisis. Until hospitals can come up with the 250 million shekels owed to medical suppliers, new supplies will not be forthcoming. Hospital directors add cautiously that the amount is just the minimum required to get the system back on its feet.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Health Minister Nissim Dahan will meet today, together with senior Finance Ministry officials, in another effort to bring the current crisis to an end. Health community officials insist the solution will only come from the treasury and no other source.
One solution proposed earlier in the week is to raise the cost of hospitalization per day, but a senior official at the Maccabi HMO explains that would just be "giving aspirin to the patient," explaining that while it would generate a larger cash flow for government hospitals, a few months down the road, the HMOs would be striking – demanding they be bailed out of their monetary crisis.