The gaps between the periphery and the center are reflected in a variety of aspects in the field of health - and now the gaps are sharpening even more: in the extent of the distribution of Acmo devices, which replace the activity of the heart and lungs.
In the northern region there are only three devices, and in the southern ten, compared to 55 in the center, 13 in Jerusalem and 12 in Haifa.
This emerges from data provided by the Ministry of Health to the Finance Committee, at the request of MK Ofir Katz, who initiated a discussion on the subject.
The data show a tenfold difference in the rate of devices in Tel Aviv compared to the north of the country.
In the Tel Aviv area there is one Acmo device for every 50,000 people;
The Jerusalem District has one device for every 89,000 people;
In Haifa, one in 87,000;
In one center for 85,000 people;
In the south, one device for 133,000 people - and in the north, one device serves no less than 489,000 people.
Dr. Siegel Lieberant Taub, head of the General Medicine Division at the Ministry of Health, replied to the Finance Committee that there are 94 Acme devices in Israel. The devices were purchased independently by the hospitals, but as of last October, a hospital seeking Acme Ministry of Health Some hospitals are waiting for approval for more than four months.
The Acme device has made headlines in the last two years when it comes to treating corona, and due to being a last resort for patients for whom the soul is not beneficial.
65% of Acme treated patients recovered.
During periods of severe morbidity, hospitals were required to prioritize connecting to a device for relatively young patients who were more likely to live.
Prof. Hezi Levy, director of Barzilai Hospital, trained medical staff at the hospital to use the Acmo device, and is waiting for the Ministry of Health: "The lack of an Acmo device impairs our ability to treat those who require treatment.
This causes us to move patients to large hospitals in the center, even though they are also crowded.
"Some hospitals in the periphery do not have a device, and that certainly detracts from the general ability to treat."
Dr. Mickey Dodkevich, director of Hillel Yaffe, has been waiting for more than two years for approval from the Ministry of Health to operate an Acme device at the hospital.
There was also a case of a patient who died after coming to another hospital. "
MK Ofir Katz, Photo: Knesset Spokeswoman
Along with other services and devices in the health system, such as MRI, CT or a surgical robot, Acmo devices are also at a lower rate in the periphery, although the National Health Insurance Act stipulates that health services will be provided equally, "within a reasonable time and distance" from the patient.
"This is a crazy omission," says MK Ofir Katz.
Simply blatant abandonment of the inhabitants of the periphery.
I shout a clear message: the lives of the residents of the periphery are no less equal than the lives of the residents of the center.
I asked for an urgent discussion in the Knesset on the issue, and I will not leave the matter. "
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