Hadassah: The Women’s Zionist Organization of America and Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director general of the hospital that the organization founded and runs in Jerusalem, have reached an "amicable agreement" about the doctor’s future with the hospital but have not made the details public.
Mor-Yosef tendered his resignation in January, which the hospital’s board and Hadassah accepted, but the resignation caused a stir among the hospital’s staff.
The doctors’ union at the hospital has been up in arms over the resignation of Mor-Yosef, who they claim was pushed out by the Hadassah home office in New York. Hadassah leaders in New York dug in their heels and insisted that Mor-Yosef resigned on his own. In additon, four out of the five Israeli members of the board of the hospital resigned, according to The Jerusalem Post. Mor-Yosef has never said whether he was pushed out, but, after a long silence, late last week he asked for a two-year extension on his contract, which expires in 2010.
Mor-Yosef was then summoned to New York to meet with Hadassah’s president, Nancy Falchuk, on Thursday — as the doctors’ union began demanding that Hadassah extend Mor-Yosef’s expiring contract by five years.
Mor-Yosef met with Hadassah officials all day Thursday, and it appears that the two sides have reached an agreement on whether he would stay or go. But Hadassah is not making the decision public until later this month, according to a release just issued:
Statement from HWZOA March 4, 2010
New York, March 4, 2010 — Hadassah the Women’s Zionist Organization of America National President Nancy Falchuk and Hadassah Medical Organization Director Shlomo Mor-Yosef today announced they have reached an amicable agreement concerning the continued management of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem.
Details of the agreement will be discussed when the HMO Board of Directors meets in Jerusalem March 16-17.
The spat had become increasingly nasty, with the doctors’ union privately claiming that Falchuk pushed out Mor-Yosef for personal reasons. Mor-Yosef dismissed those allegations in another release Thursday morning before his meeting:
“I am looking forward to meeting with the Hadassah National President hoping to resolve the disagreements between HWZOA and HMO”, says Prof. Mor-Yosef.
“One thing stands above any dispute — Hadassah has been for the last 100 years an ardent Zionist organization that has made untold contributions to Israel and the Jewish People. I was sorry to read some of the recent publications in the media and references of a personal nature, and hope that the meeting tomorrow will bring us all together to continue our shared desire — to provide the best medical care to the people of Jerusalem, Israel, and the region”.
The speculation is that the two sides reached some sort of compromise. We are trying to find out more.
Developing…
** Update. The Jerusalem Post is reporting that it learned that Mor Yosef was extended. But it does not say for how long or under what parameters. We are looking for confirmation.
