MidnightCall Magazine
In this issue:
- Hear theWord of the Lord — By Thomas Lieth
- FirstThessalonians 3 and the Rapture — By Dr. Ron J. Bigalke Jr.
- Popular Prophecy:CheckingDogmaTwice — By Wilfred Hahn
News From Israel MagazineIn this issue:
- Why Jerusalem is Jewish — By Arno Froese
- ON THE HORIZON:
- Analysis: Birthright Needs to Transform on Larger Scale
- Israel Praises Turkish Authority for Preventing Hezbollah Attack
- Relationship with American Jews Is Changing
- A Festival of Discrimination—Funded by the EU
- The Cyrus Cylinder
Israel Near Bottom of List in OECD Hospital Bed Rates
There are only 1.98 hospital beds per 1,000 residents, compared to 8.2 in Japan and 5.7 in Germany, the report states. In Israel, according to the report, beds are not distributed in an equitable way. In the Tel Aviv and Haifa districts, there are 2.5 beds per 1,000 residents, compared to just 1.5 beds in the northern and southern districts. The total number of beds in the general hospitals is 14,582, and no new public hospitals have been built in decades.
Nearly half of all general hospital beds are in government-owned hospitals; the rest are in health fund hospitals or institutions owned by voluntary organizations. Only one hospital has received the go-ahead for construction—a medical center in Ashdod.
The average period of hospitalization is only four days, thus some patients are discharged before they are ready, and the average bed accommodates 89 patients within a year due to the “hot bed” policy. In Japan, the average patient spends over 19 days in the hospital, followed by 8.2 days in Switzerland and 7.5 in Britain. Mexico, with an average of 3.9 days, is the shortest besides Israel’s.
The Health Ministry updated their plan in 2005 to add 3,646 beds by 2015 and another 2,500 by 2025. This does not mean just buying beds but also allocating funds to expand existing hospitals or construct new ones, as well as to train and hire new doctors, nurses and other staffers to fill job slots. However, the Knesset report said that no action has been taken to implement this plan.
At present, the average occupancy rate in the 25 general hospitals is 101%. Only three medical centers have occupancy rates lower than 95%. If average occupancy rates were lowered to 90%, an additional 1,500 beds would be needed.
-www.jpost.com, 13 January 2010
With the constant threat of war upon Israel, it is nothing short of a miracle that in spite of the lack of hospital facilities, Israel’s health report card is excellent. Their average life expectancy is 80.61. That puts Israel way up in the rich league in 13th place, compared to 47th place for the United States with 78.14 years of life expectancy. Considering that Israel is threatened with destruction and is directly involved in the war against terrorism, their achievement is absolutely amazing. This is part of the progressive fulfillment of Bible prophecy such as Ezekiel 36:10: “And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded.”
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