Israel’s Healthcare Lags Behind in General, Psychiatric and Rehabilitation Hospital Beds Per Capita

The report has brought to light that Israel had a rate of 2.1 beds per thousand people in general wards in 2022, which is lower than the average of 2.4 beds per thousand people in developed countries. This puts Israel in fourth place from the bottom of the list, with South Korea having the highest rate of 7.3 hospital beds per thousand inhabitants. Germany follows closely behind with 5.8 beds per thousand inhabitants, which is considered one of the best health systems in the world.

In terms of psychiatric hospitalization beds, Israel has an even lower rate of 0.3 beds per thousand people, below the OECD average of 0.1 beds per thousand people. South Korea and Belgium lead the list with a rate of 1.3 beds per thousand people each. In rehabilitation departments, Israel also lags behind with a rate of 0.3 hospital beds per thousand people, which is below the OECD average of 0.5 beds per thousand people.

According to the Ministry of Health, they plan to add an additional 1,790 hospital beds in the next five years to bring their total number of general hospital beds to around 17,500. They also plan on adding an additional 300 beds in rehabilitation departments and new centers opening in Jerusalem and the north as well as adding another 245 beds for psychiatric wards