Ministry of Health vs. Ichilov Hospital: Tomorrow (Thursday) a new emergency department will be inaugurated at the Ichilov Medical Center under the title "Emergency Medicine Hospital".
However, the Ministry of Health claims that the hospital did not receive a license from the Ministry of Health to establish a hospital and it is not allowed to call the emergency medicine department a "hospital".
Alongside this, Prime Minister Yair Lapid was invited to the Hanukkah ceremony, when the legal adviser of the Ministry of Health issued an opinion that during an election period a candidate who visits a hospital and receives media coverage constitutes prohibited election propaganda.
The "Hospital for Emergency Medicine" named after Sylvain Adams is supposed to be the largest and most advanced in the Middle East and will have 4 floors, including an inpatient department.
The Ministry of Health, which gives a license to every hospital in Israel, did not give permission to open another hospital there.
A senior official in the health system estimated that the issue will soon be discussed by the director general of the ministry.
The Ministry of Health responded: "The Ministry of Health grants each hospital a license detailing the exact definitions of the functions it has. Permission must be obtained from the Ministry of Health in order to define a department or wing as a separate hospital. The Ichilov Hospital did not receive the Ministry's permission to define the emergency department as an 'emergency medicine hospital'".
Netanyahu at the ceremony of laying the cornerstone for the new center, photo: Ben Gershom for the company
A senior official at the Ministry of Health says: "There is no such thing as an emergency hospital. We contacted the Ichilov Hospital for clarification and received medical explanations, but that is not enough. A hospital has independent management and an independent budget. What Ichilov is doing is a marketing move."
Maichilov stated that "a hospital within a hospital does not require approval."
Launch ceremony or forbidden propaganda?
But the disputes between the hospital and the Ministry of Health do not end here.
For the inauguration of the emergency medicine department, senior figures are invited, including the Prime Minister, Yair Lapid.
This is in contrast to a legal opinion of the Ministry of Health according to which a visit by an MK or a candidate who is photographed and accompanied by media coverage as expected tomorrow in Ichilov "can fall within the scope of prohibited election propaganda".
The invitation to the department launch event, Lapid was also invited,
The legal adviser of the Ministry of Health, Adv. Dana Neufeld, wrote to all government hospitals that "tours of Knesset members and Knesset candidates are prohibited in the hospitals that are part of the election propaganda."
The Prime Minister's Office stated: "The legal opinion of the Ministry of Health does not prohibit the holding of any events in hospitals during the election period, but rather prohibits tours as part of "election propaganda" as defined in the Election Law (Methods of Propaganda) 59-1959.
The Prime Minister's participation in the inauguration of the emergency medicine department in Ichilov was legally reviewed by the ministry and approved after consultation with the Ministry of Justice, in accordance with the directive of the ombudsman.
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