Rotation system for senior Health Ministry, hospital administrators approved after 14-year delay

Hospital directors and hospital department heads, as well as leading ministry administrators, will have tenure for six to 12 years.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Shaare Zedek Hospital (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Shaare Zedek Hospital
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The social cabinet approved on Monday the proposal initiated by the Health Ministry to inject new blood into the administration of government medical centers by setting a maximum term of 12 years for hospital directors and department heads, as well as senior administrators in the ministry itself.
The proposal, which will allow younger physicians to advance in their careers instead of hitting a glass ceiling of senior directors who leave only upon retirement, was made earlier this year by the German Committee on Strengthening the Public Health System, which sat for a year on various key issues.
The Prime Minister’s Office and the Civil Service Commission were also involved in the proposed reform.
It will not affect the voluntary hospitals in Jerusalem and Netanya or those owned by Clalit Health Services. Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Organization already has in place a rotation system for senior administrators.
Hospital directors and hospital department heads, as well as leading ministry administrators, will have tenure for six to 12 years.
Senior administrators in the Health Ministry and government hospitals who are currently within four years of pension age, 67, will not be affected and will be allowed to continue until they retire. New administrators, however, will not be allowed to exceed the 12-year maximum limit, The Jerusalem Post learned.
The new rules will increase preservation of high-quality medical manpower and open up opportunities for doctors in the system, as well as increase rotation at the highest levels of the medical institutions owned and run by the government, the Health Ministry said.
German, a member of the social cabinet that is headed by Finance Minister Yair Lapid, said that the health system is “excellent, and to continue to preserve its excellence, we must make it possible for potential directors in the system to advance. The reform, whose principles have been approved today, is vital to continue to strengthen the public health system.”
Harel Locker, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office, said that the decision was approved after “many years of dealing with the issue. It will radiate on the whole health system and raise it to standards of advanced demonstration. Setting a limit to tenure as a principle for all of public service.”
Health Ministry director-general Prof. Arnon Afek said that offering the possibility of advancement to younger doctors will be “genuine good news for a system thirsty for management reform.” It will also prevent a brain drain of talented medical managers who leave government-owned institutions to the private sector and other public institutions, he said.