Former Hadassah chief Mor-Yosef to head National Insurance Institute

Obstetrician/gynecologist formally chosen for position by Welfare and Social Services Minister Moshe Kahlon.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef 311 (photo credit: Judy Siegel-Itzkovich)
Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef 311
(photo credit: Judy Siegel-Itzkovich)
Former longtime Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) director-general Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef has been appointed director-general of the powerful National Insurance Institute (NII). An obstetrician/gynecologist with a sub-specialty in gynecological oncology who has devoted many years to medical administration, he was formally chosen for the position on Monday by Welfare and Social Services Minister Moshe Kahlon (Likud).
Mor-Yosef – who was born in Jerusalem in 1951 – was selected by a specially appointed committee headed by Welfare and Social Services Ministry director-general Nachum Itzkovitch from among three finalists. He will be in charge of 4,000 employees. At HMO, Mor-Yosef was replaced last year by former Maccabi Health Services director-general Prof. Ehud Kokia.
At the NII, Mor-Yosef replaces Esther Dominissini – who ironically joined HMO a few months ago to become its first chairwoman.
Mor-Yosef is due to take over for her at the end of this month.
Thus Mor-Yosef, Kokia and Dominissini will undoubtedly be present at the opening of the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower and Hadassah’s centennial celebrations later this year.
Mor-Yosef spent all of his academic and professional life with HMO and the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Faculty – except for a few years as the director-general of the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba.
As his appointment has to undergo formal approval by an external committee of suitability, Mor-Yosef declined all interviews, but people close to him said his first priority was to head the NII because “it is closer to his heart and will involve helping people. He wants to be involved in an institution with national impact and influence.”
The NII, with its major influence on social policy, falls under the purview of the minister of welfare and social services.
Married and the father of four, Mor-Yosef was the director-general of HMO for a decade, where he was the highly respected boss of 6,000 employees and supervised a budget of NIS 1.8 billion a year. He had also been the head of the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research.
Reacting to news of the appointment, the Israel Medical Association congratulated Mor-Yosef, stating that there was “no doubt that his rich experience in health management will help him fill his new position in the best possible way. We are sure that Prof.
Mor-Yosef will act to promote the NII and social welfare in Israel as he acted to improve public medicine and will continue to promote issues related to the healthcare system,” the IMA said.
The NII operates under the National Insurance Law, passed by the Knesset in November 1953. The NII aims to provide weak population groups and families in temporary or long-term difficulties with a financial basis for subsistence. Today, the NII law includes a wide variety of programs, such as those dealing with old-age, widows, widowers, orphans, maternity, children, work injury, general disability, long-term care, unemployment, bankruptcy and liquidation of corporations.
In addition to the National Insurance Law, the NII is in charge of enforcing other laws and agreements in the field of social insurance, such as the Income Support Law, designed to protect every family from loss of income and to assist needy populations.
Ruth Eglash contributed to this story.