Ministry of Finance and the public hospitals: agreed NIS 105 million each month for their operation

An end to the saga of a lack of budgets for medical care in hospitals? The Ministry of Finance and the public hospitals announced tonight (Wednesday) that an agreement has been reached according to which all the hospitals together will receive NIS 105 million each month for their operation and for the purchase of urgent equipment and medicines.
The Ministry of Finance stated that in a meeting attended by Finance Minister Israel Katz and Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen with the seven directors of public hospitals and professionals in the Ministry of Finance, an agreement was reached that will address the hospitals and allow them to function fully in providing care to patients. The agreement will provide hospitals with budgetary certainty while ensuring salary payments to employees and payments to suppliers for the entire year 2021. Beyond that, it has been decided that a public committee will be established to examine the needs of hospitals and the need to upgrade and apply equality among all hospitals in Israel.
These are Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Shaare Zedek in Jerusalem, Laniado in Netanya, Maayan Hayeshua in Bnei Brak, the English in Nazareth, the French in Nazareth and the Holy Family in Nazareth.
The Minister of Finance announced that he instructed his ministry staff to demand that the Ministry of Health transfer more resources to all hospitals and in particular to the public from an additional Corona budget of over NIS 20 billion, allocated specifically to the Ministry of Health to fight Corona and increase hospital capacity. In fact, this is money that will already be budgeted in the "box" of 20 billion shekels, and now they have approved transferring the money from this budget to the hospitals.
This is NIS 630 million that will be transferred to the seven hospitals for six months, NIS 105 million every month, as stated. From January to June, hospitals will be budgeted each month with NIS 50 million in ongoing support and NIS 55 million in corona support. If hospitals are not required to hold biological screening and corona wards - the state will pay hospitals salaries and suppliers by the end of 2021.
Finance Minister Katz: "This is a groundbreaking agreement that will allow the public hospitals, which devotedly treat more than two million patients a year and are in the first line of the struggle with the corona, to provide the best medical services to all patients and especially corona patients at this time. "I would like to thank the Deputy Minister of Finance, Itzik Cohen, and the professionals in the Ministry of Finance who worked day and night to reach this agreement."