Prof. Zeev Rotstein resigned from his role as CEO and director-general of Jerusalem’s Hadassah-University Medical Center on Sunday.
The move comes as a result of a long series of conflicts with the hospital’s board, which last week announced it would summon him to a hearing to consider terminating his employment.
He decided to resign before appearing before the board.
“In order to respect Rotstein and confidentiality of the proceeding, we will not be able to elaborate further,” the board said in a statement last week. “There is only one thing that the board of directors is looking at: the future of Hadassah Hospital and the well-being of the hundreds of the thousands of patients treated there.”
Rotstein has an eclectic personality and often did not inform the board about different initiatives or failed to follow their instructions, hospital sources told Israeli media outlets. The situation caused problems in ensuring that services the hospital is called to provide are available for the people of Jerusalem, they said.
Rotstein came to Hadassah in 2016 after working for 36 years at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, starting as a young cardiologist and working his way up to director-general of what would a few years later be chosen as one of the top hospitals in the world.
He was seen as a sort of rebel against the state throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, publicly going against the recommendations and regulations rolled out by the Health Ministry. He was even accused by former Health Ministry deputy director-general Itamar Grotto of taking actions that “bordered on treason against the state.”
Rotstein has also been at the forefront of the public hospitals’ battle against the state to receive additional funding, specifically in the aftermath of the pandemic. Many hospitals lost income due to lack of activity and the increase in costs treating COVID-19 patients.
In June 2020, Rotstein told The Jerusalem Post his contract was up in two and a half years, meaning in 2023. “If they want me out at the end, I will go,” he said, adding that he hoped to stay.
The Post has reached out to Rotstein for a comment.