BREAKING NEWS

Former IDF chief medical officer joins ministry

The Health Ministry has appointed the former chief medical officer of the Israel Defense Forces, Dr. Nachman Ash, to an entirely new position as deputy director-general in charge of medical informatics.
Ash, who will begin at ministry headquarters in Jerusalem on Sunday, was appointed to lead and carry out policies relating to the handling of medical data, especially via information systems and data banks in the ministry and the whole health system. He thus aims to improve the quality of medical treatment and its efficiency.
Ensuring the quality of medicine and health services has been defined by the ministry as a major role in building national infrastructure to improve the flow of medical information and measuring quality. Establishing the new position was meant to upgrade this function.
"The ministry has carried out many changes in this field in the last two years," Ash told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, "and it wants to make more advances." Ash, who for the last four years not only served as chief medical officer but also taught health sciences part-time at the Ariel University Center, will report directly to ministry director-general Prof. Ronni Gamzu.
A specialist in internal medicine, Ash has a master’s degree in medical informatics from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MA in social sciences at the University of Haifa and the National Defense College.