A special inter-ministerial commission, led by the directors general of the ministries of finance and health, recently presented recommendations to the government regarding the format of a new hospital in Beersheba. The hospital is set to begin operating in 2028. Originally, it was planned that the hospital would 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.
In 2023, the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Moshe Bar-Simantov, pushed for a change in this decision, seeking to transfer the construction and management of the hospital to the state. However, the Ministry of Finance strongly opposed this proposal. As a result, the inter-ministerial commission recommended that the new hospital be jointly owned by two small health insurance funds, Meuhedet and Leumit, with operational management carried out by the Sheba Medical Center.
The new hospital, with a capacity of 600 beds, is expected to alleviate the load on the Soroka hospital and improve access to medical care for the population of the Negev region. Overall, these recommendations aim to address the evolving healthcare needs of the area while optimizing the management and ownership structure of the new hospital.