Deputy Minister of Health R’ Yaakov Litzman is contemplating the establishment of a pediatric psychiatric hospital in Israel after expressing outrage at what he saw during a visit to Abarbanel Hospital.

After a recent visit to Abarbanel Psychiatric Hospital, where adults and children are hospitalized under harsh sanitary conditions, the deputy minister expressed outrage following the two-hour unannounced visit. He told Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet that the current reality is unacceptable.

It appears a recent TV news magazine report of the “inhumane conditions” at Abarbanel led to the visit, with Litzman escorted by the director-general of his ministry and MK (Labor) Shelly Yacimovitz.

While Abarbanel is slated for closure, Litzman is allocating an emergency budget of NIS 6 million to prevent this from happening and towards refurbishing the ailing structure.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)