More Supervision Needed for Health Clinics in East Jerusalem
- ACRI
- 29 minutes ago
- 2 min read
On July 14, 2025, ACRI submitted an appeal to the Ministry of Health and the Jerusalem Municipality on behalf of the Forum for Health Equality in East Jerusalem with an urgent demand for thorough inspections to be carried out at health fund clinics in East Jerusalem, which are usually run by franchisees. This appeal is in response to data we collected through freedom of information requests and a statistical analysis of the data, which was carried out by researchers at Hebrew University.
The data analysis revealed major gaps in the quality of medical services under the franchise model compared to those provided at health fund clinics operated directly by the HMO. Particularly serious were the gaps found in the provision of child development services, where early diagnosis and treatment are critical for reducing motor and language delays. For example:
Toddlers assigned to HMO-run clinics received 3.2 times more referrals for language delay diagnoses than those assigned to franchise clinics.
Toddlers treated at HMO-run clinics underwent 5.3 times more language delay assessments.
9.75 times more toddlers treated at HMO-run clinics received treatment for language delays from speech-language pathologists.
Minors and adults treated at franchise clinics were referred 3.3 times (minors) and 4.1 times (adults) more to emergency rooms, indicating a lack of adequate urgent care at health fund branches operating under franchises.
In the petition, Attorney Tal Hassin highlights the Ministry of Health's responsibility to supervise the health services provided at franchise clinics, as well as its current failure to do so. She notes that despite the troubling findings of inspections that were conducted at franchise clinics and research findings by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, clinics in East Jerusalem are under less supervision and have fewer inspections than those in the western part of the city. For example, 49 clinics underwent inspections in 2016, only five of which served Palestinian residents. In 2018, inspections were carried out at 47 clinics in the Jerusalem district, only six of which were in East Jerusalem. 36 clinics were inspected in 2019, only five of which were in East Jerusalem. Since then, the Ministry of Health has not conducted inspections in the area.
The appeal states that "the major gaps revealed in the provision of medical and health services between HMO-run clinics and franchise clinics, and the paucity of inspections conducted at the latter, demonstrate that the HMOs are violating the right to health and equality in health of Jerusalem’s Palestinian residents. The Ministry of Health is also complicit in the violation of these rights through its failure to supervise the health fund services they receive."
ACRI's appeal, July 14, 2025 (Heb)
For articles in Hebrew about this case, see here.
The appeal was written with the help of legal intern Yotam Rotfeld