The pilot rating system evaluated public hospitals on six key criteria — staffing levels of specialist physicians, qualified nurses with advanced training, readmission rates within seven days of discharge, patient satisfaction surveys, and implementation of internal service improvement processes.

“Internal medicine departments are the backbone of our healthcare system, caring for our most complex patients,” said Health Minister Uriel Buso. “This new rating system will help drive improvements in care quality and service delivery.”

Nazareth Hospital EMMS and the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan took second and third place, respectively.

“This is a crucial step for improving inpatient care,” said Dr. Hagar Mizrachi, Head of the Ministry’s Medical Division. She noted that future evaluations will expand to include additional healthcare professionals working in internal medicine departments.

The ratings, based largely on 2023 data, are being used to allocate funding to hospitals as part of a comprehensive plan to enhance public healthcare services. This initiative falls under the Hospital-Health Fund Settlement Law for 2021-2025, which aims to improve healthcare delivery across Israel’s public hospital system.