Shared Ownership and Management: The Controversial Decision behind Beersheba’s New Hospital

A new hospital is set to open in Beersheba in 2028. Originally, it was planned for the hospital to be owned by one of the health insurance funds and not managed by a government agency. However, this decision was later reversed when the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar-Simantov, proposed that the construction and management of the hospital be transferred to the state. The Ministry of Finance strongly opposed this idea.

In response to these discussions, a special inter-ministerial commission has presented recommendations to the government regarding the format of the new hospital. The commission, led by the directors general of the ministries of finance and health, 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 the load on Soroka Hospital and significantly improve access to medical care for the population of Negev region.