The next director-general of Israel’s Health Ministry will be Chezy Levy, the Medical Director of the Barzilai Medical Center, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced Wednesday. The appointment is subject to government approval.
“At such a time, with the need to prepare for a second wave of the coronavirus and to place the health system as one of Israel’s top priorities, Prof. Chezy Levy is the right person for the job,” Edelstein said in a statement.
Levy replaces outgoing director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov, who held the post since 2015.
Levy, a surgical specialist, has been the head of Barzilai Medical Center since 2012.
He served as a doctor in the first Lebanon war and participated in several medical humanitarian missions around the world, including to Kosovo, Zaire, Kenya, Macedonia, Turkey and Rwanda.
He led the creation of Barzilai’s fortified underground emergency department, which is considered one of the most protected and technologically advanced in the world.
Levy has extensive experience in emergency medicine, as well, which for Edelstein was an important parameter in his choice for director-general.
In his announcement of the selection, Edelstein thanked Bar Siman Tov for his “strenuous and important work.”