Avigdor Kaplan is stepping down as CEO of Hadassah Medical Center. The hospital's board of directors has accepted Kaplan's resignation.
Prof. Tamar Peretz, head of Haddasah's Sharett Institute of Oncology, will fill the CEO role for the time being.
In his letter of resignation, Kaplan said that he could not accept the agreement between the Hadassah organization and the Finance and Health ministries that for the duration of the seven year period of the hospital's recovery plan, a supervisory financial controller would be appointed on behalf of the state.
Sources in the health system say that this issue represents a formal reason only for Kaplan's resignation, and that he was in effect forced to resign because of friction and disagreements that had broken out in the past several months between him and the Hadassah organization.
Two weeks ago, the Jerusalem District Court approved the creditors' arrangement at Hadassah. At the end of a severe crisis that almost led to the hospital's closure, the Finance and Health ministries reached agreement with the Hadassah organization, and representatives of the doctors, the nurses, and the administrative and domestic staff, on a recovery plan.
The agreement states that the CEO and the chairman of the hospital will be restricted to two terms of four years, with the state's approval being required for a second term. Furthermore, the directors of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health will be entitled to initiate a discussion by the board of directors in the event of deviation from the recovery plan, or because of a need to dismiss the CEO before his or her term ends.
Hadassah Medical Center has an accumulated deficit of some NIS 1.3 billion. Each year, the hospitals in Ein Kerem and on Mount Scopus generate a current deficit of some NIS 300 million. The deficits arise, among other things, from excessive discounts granted to the health funds, chiefly Maccabi, generous wage agreements, and a failure of supervision by the board of directors and the regulator.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 9, 2014
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