Israel Healthcare Institutions National Master Plan
Israel’s healthcare’s landscape in its one hundredth anniversary – 2048
The National Master Plan for Healthcare Institutions – TAMA 49 – was jointly initiated by the Ministry of Health and by the Ministry of Finance’s Israel Planning Administration. The plan is tasked to outline the construction and development of healthcare institutions nationwide by the year 2048, Israel’s one hundredth anniversary. The plan lays out the demands set upon Israel’s healthcare system as projected for the target year. This projected scenario is, by nature, multifaceted; it takes into account projections regarding population growth, changes to the population profile including its aging, trends in morbidity in accordance with disease clusters, and the impact of technological advancements on the distribution of healthcare services.
The plan addresses the main changes that the healthcare system is expected to face. In particular, it focuses on the changing character and role of traditional healthcare centers and hospitals, and on the transfer of medical services provision (including hospitalization) to community- and home-based care. The plan offers guidelines for the development and distribution of Israel’s healthcare services, leading up to the year 2048. It offers a planning framework for expanding and promoting Israel’s existing healthcare campuses and hospitals as well as adding new institutions as needed. Furthermore, it refers to current programs and to projected forecasts for national and regional population distribution; offers a programmatic and statutory framework for land allocation for the hospital system, and includes guiding principles for the planning of community-based healthcare services.
Planning the needs of tomorrow, today
The plan is based on many basic assumptions, including population growth according to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics forecasts; a gradual transition of hospitalization from hospitals to the community and the patient’s home of 5% by 2030, 10% by 2040, and 15% by 2050; and a gradual increase in chronic morbidity during the planning period at the rate as low as 5% and at an increased rate of 15% until the year 2050. Also, the assumption is that the average bed occupancy will be according to what is accepted in the OECD (about 80% with the occupancy rising to 90% in the winter). According to the steering team’s plan, the number of beds per thousand people should increase from 1.78 now to 2.07 in the pessimistic scenario and up to 2.25 in the ideal scenario. To understand the scope of the numbers, you can take as an example the Northern District where there are 2,042 general hospital beds, which are 1.41 beds per thousand people - the lowest rate in Israel. According to the plan, in 27 years it will need about 2,300 more beds, assuming occupancy will continue to be 90%. If occupancy drops to 80% occupancy, 3,171 more beds must be added to reach 5,213 beds. In a scenario of high morbidity, there is already a need for 5,662 beds - 2.7 times more than today.
The plan stipulates that additional hospitals will be built in Be’er Sheva, Karmiel, Gila’m Junction (Kiryat Ata), Beit Shemesh, Netanya, Kiryat Gat, Hod HaSharon and Modi’in. Seventeen of the existing hospitals will be modified so they’ll be able to have a minimum capacity of 1,000 beds each. The local medical services offered in Israel’s periphery and rural areas will be increased through medical centers that will be established in Kiryat Shmona, Sakhnin, Qatsrin, Kfar Qara, Dimona and Arad. A decision to build a medical emergency center in Mitzpe Ramon is yet to be determined.
Kuppt Holim (referring to Israel’s network of HMOs) will expand their services in the community. The system of hospitalization in the community, which will gradually reach 15% of all acute hospitalizations, will save the need to establish additional hospitals on a large scale.
The psychiatric hospitalization system currently has about 3,650 beds, and according to estimates, 7,500 beds will be needed in 2050 to maintain the existing ratio - 0.4 beds per thousand people. Although no new psychiatric hospitals will be established, some of the existing hospitals will be closed and moved to new buildings adapted to the needs of modern medicine. The hospitals in Zikhron Ya’akov and Ness Ziona are expected to be closed and moved to the Yitzhak Shamir hospital complex (Asaf Harofeh) in new buildings.
Next Steps
A U.S. company interested in further information about this or other healthcare opportunities can contact Inbar.Marom@trade.gov. Additionally, U.S. firms interested in expanding sales in Israel should consider working with the U.S. Commercial Service in Israel to explore matchmaking, market research or other assistance that may prove beneficial.