The right direction

A surprise party is held for Jonathan Halevy on his 25th anniversary as Shaare Zedek’s director-general.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Prof. Jonathan Halevy 370 (photo credit: JUDY SIEGEL-Itzkovich)
Prof. Jonathan Halevy 370
(photo credit: JUDY SIEGEL-Itzkovich)
The stage was set: A sign announcing a lecture by Shaare Zedek Medical Center directorgeneral Prof. Jonathan Halevy to 70 European physicians was posted in the fifth-floor corridor outside the Hedi Steinberg Auditorium. But behind the closed doors and inside the darkened room were hundreds of people, from his wife Adina, five children, and 12 of his 13 grandchildren, to a woman who went to kindergarten with him, a variety of other people from his past, many present and former SZMC staffers, and his former competitor and friend, National Insurance Institute directorgeneral Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, who was previously director-general of the Hadassah Medical Organization. Sivan Rahav-Meir, the religious TV reporter who had given birth to her four children in the hospital’s obstetrics ward, was on hand as the hostess of the “This is Your Life”-style surprise party.
One of those behind the scenes who orchestrated the celebration was Shoham Ruvio, his personal assistant and hospital spokeswoman, who was working at SZMC years before even Halevy arrived. Halevy admitted that his wife and Shoham are so involved in his daily life that for years he has often confused “Adina” with “Shoham,” and vice-versa.
“I suspected something was going on,” said the 65-year-old internal medicine expert, who had earlier in the day returned from a fund-raising trip abroad. “But I didn’t know what,” he said, clearly moved and amazed that so many people had bothered to come to mark his 25th anniversary as the hospital’s director-general.
There is no other medical center in Israel that has had the same directorgeneral for a quarter century. There have been only four in the 111-year history of the hospital: Founder Dr.
Moshe Wallach (who held the post for 47 years); Dr. Falk Schlesinger (who was there for 21 years); and Prof. David Maeir (who was in charge for 13 years), before Halevy took over in 1988. In a much shorter period of time, Hadassah has had nine people rotate through the same post, with the announcement of the newest – economist and businessman Avigdor Kaplan – made public on the day of the SZMC event.
Halevy, who was born in Bnei Brak and is modern Orthodox, graduated from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine. Hewas a military doctor until he joined the then-Beilinson Hospital, and was handpicked for the SZMC as acting chairman of an internal medicine department. Not yet 40, Halevy was considered very young to be chosen to run the Jerusalem institution.
A gastroenterologist who specializes in liver diseases, he continues to keep his finger on the clinical pulse in the hospital, even though he works round the clock as a medical administrator and fun-draiser.
Calling it his “life’s work,” Halevy admitted the hospital is his obsession.
“I believe medicine is best profession in the world,” he said, and noted that he succeeded in passing it on to two of his five children. While his 13 grandchildren – shown in a video singing, drumming and wearing doctors’ white coats, – and ranging in age from babies to a 20-yearold – aren’t ready for medical school, he told the audience he hopes some of them “won’t make the mistake of not being physicians.”
Halevy disclosed that with a computer application developed at the hospital, he follows hospital loads and individual patient cases on his laptop, examining x-rays, scans, catheterizations and other procedures from afar – be it on his frequent trips abroad or even during excursions outside Jerusalem, Halevy’s son Erez, who will soon start his medical studies, noted that even as a young boy, his father exposed him to medical terminology and peppered Shabbat meals with discussions of interesting cases.
While Hadassah is considerably larger and conducts half of the medical research in the country, it is currently bogged down by serious deficits. At the same time, SZMC has grown from a community hospital on Jaffa Road to a deficit-free, internationally recognized medical center opposite Mount Herzl, having flourished and expanded under Halevy’s reign. It has become one of the largest birthing centers in the world and was chosen by the government to take over the financially ailing Bikur Cholim Hospital. SZMC is also building a “Next Generation” building with more beds and facilities, and attracting medical “stars” to the campus opposite Mount Herzl.
“I feel at home here!” declared Mor- Yosef, who happily showed up (unlike the new Health Minister, Yael German, whose absence despite her invitation was noted by partygoers). “Just see how many Hadassah graduates there are here!” •