Hadassah Director-General Dr Avigdor Kaplan spoke with Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) on Monday morning, 17 Adar I 5774. He addressed the ongoing strike by the medical organization’s personnel, issuing a call to them to return to work. Dr. Kaplan explained that on Sunday, 90% of money owed to employees for their January 2014 salaries was deposited into employee bank accounts so it is time to return to work and the negotiating table.

Kaplan explained that Hadassah received 5 million each from the government and Hadassah Women in the USA and that funding is being used to get the hospitals back up and running. He was asked how much monthly salaries amount to at Hadassah, with Dr. Kaplan placing the gross monthly payroll at 130 million NIS. He stressed that the money due was deposited in bank accounts and it is now time for negotiations. Dr. Kaplan added that many or even most issues have been worked out and he remains optimistic regarding the outstanding issues.

Striking hospital employees on Tuesday morning held a protest outside the home of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. At one point the tens of protesters tried to close the street to vehicles.

Short Bio on Dr. Kaplan

Dr. Kaplan is the first non-physician to assume the leadership of Hadassah Medical Organization which includes Hadassah University Hospital Ein Kerem, Hadassah University Hospital Mount Scopus, and partnership with the Hebrew University in schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, occupational therapy and public health. Dr. Kaplan, 73, is the ninth Director-General and he was chosen unanimously by the Board of Directors among a large field of candidates.

Kaplan is well-known to the Israeli public for steering Clalit Health Fund, Israel’s largest health fund, from deficit to financial solvency and building CLAL Insurance Enterprises ,which he joined in 1997, into the nation’s largest insurance company.

Kaplan received a B.A in Economics and Statistics and a masters in Business Administration from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He holds a Master of Science degree in Industrial Management Engineering from the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa. He earned a doctoral degree in Medical Administration from Ben-Gurion University.

To take up the position, he has resigned as Chair of the Board of CLAL Insurance Pensions & Finance Group, where he served previously as president and Chief Operating Officer. He also heads the MBA Program in Risk Management at the University of Haifa where he is a professor.

Kaplan has earned a reputation as a gifted executive who nurtures the strengths of the major corporations he heads. He will assume his leadership role at a time when PricewaterhouseCooper, PwC, and its local affiliate Kesselman and Kesselman, are completing their recommendations for restructuring and improved efficiency at Hadassah Medical Center.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)