In 2023, the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar-Simantov, proposed a change to the original decision regarding the new hospital in Beersheba. He sought to transfer the construction and management of the hospital from a health insurance fund to the state. However, this idea was strongly opposed by the Ministry of Finance.
As a result of these discussions, an inter-ministerial commission was formed, led by the directors general of the ministries of finance and health. The commission recently presented recommendations to the government regarding the format of the new hospital in Beersheba. Originally, it was planned for the hospital to be owned by one of the health insurance funds and not managed by a government agency. This decision was made to reduce centralization in the medical services market and avoid conflicts of interest with the Ministry of Health.
The commission has now recommended that the new hospital be jointly owned by two small health insurance funds, Meuhedet and Leumit. They also suggested that the operational management of the hospital be carried out by Sheba Medical Center. The new hospital is planned to have a capacity of 600 beds and aims to reduce