Professor Zion Hagay, chairman of the Israel Medical Association, feels the government has failed to care for its most important resource on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus – the country's doctors and medical professionals, even alluding to the possibility of a strike.
"The healthcare system wasn't prepared for a pandemic of this magnitude. There weren't enough doctors, not enough protection. Medical personnel didn't receive damages for their time in quarantine after being exposed to the virus at work. But now we're at war, and if they don't meet our requests we will break all the rules of the game, even to the point of shutting the system down," said Hagay.
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Now, as the government is locked in negotiations over the next national budget, Hagay appears to be launching a campaign aimed at shocking the system and securing an annual bonus of seven billion shekels to the healthcare budget.
"If the Finance Ministry doesn't insert provisions for more doctors and nurses, we will have to initiate a general strike of the entire [healthcare] system. We don't want it to come to that, but apparently they don't understand another language," he told Israel Hayom.
"The system is exhausted, and this is extremely troubling," he said. "Nurses, doctors, support staff at the hospitals, everyone is worn out. Even the doctors performing home visits are starting to feel the burden. They are also the ones who sign the approvals to end quarantine. This is a physical load and an emotional one. It takes its toll, and the doctors need reinforcements to replace them. Where will these reinforcements come from? We need to absorb more doctors. Today. Yesterday. We can't wait."
Hagay said he also feels a sense of failure over the inability to seize control of the second wave of infections.
"We, who other countries turned to in order to learn from about eradicating morbidity, are now in sixth place in the world in terms of the morbidity rate," he said.
Hagay, meanwhile, still believes the country's corona commissioner should be a military person.
"I respect Professor Ronni Gamzu, but there has to be a clear logistical apparatus of diagnosis, tracking, and severing the chain of infection. The person who needs to orchestrate this is a person with experience in operating complex logistical systems. We are at war, and in war you enlist everyone and don't ask too many questions," he said.
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