Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman on Thursday morning (8 Tishrei) addressed the looming strike of residents serving in government hospitals around the country. The deputy minister is hopeful that through the labor court’s intervention today, with a hearing set for 2:00pm, a walk off will be averted.

Litzman explains that it is clear that if a open-ended strike is launched, the senior physicians will not be capable of continuing to cover for the close to 800 residents walking off the job nationwide.

Professor Yehuda Ulman, who heads the department of plastic surgery in Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center warns “the hospital will stop functioning in a matter of hours” if they walk off the job. “No one can know for certain how long it will take for the system to collapse and just how quickly the extent of the painful damage will become apparent”. He concluded by adding “The State of Israel has never had a comparable situation in the past”.

Litzman is hopeful that the labor court’s intervention will achieve the intended goal, adding “we must daven that the doctors don’t walk off the job”.

NOTE: While dozens of residents in a number of hospitals did not report for work on Thursday morning, they did respond to a call later in the morning after the labor court issued a back-to-work order pending the hearing later in the day. Those who ignored that call will face contempt of court realities.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)