Ministry of Finance transfers $5.5 million to Jerusalem's Augusta Victoria hospital

27/10/2019

 

 Ministry of Finance transfers $5.5 million to Jerusalem's Augusta Victoria hospital

The finance ministry transferred today 20 million Israeli shekels ($5.5 million) to East Jerusalem's Augusta Victoria hospital to help it overcome its financial crisis, said Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.

The Prime Minister announced this after an emergency meeting he held at his office with Finance Minister Shukri Bishara and Minister of Health Mai al-Keilah to discuss the situation of Palestinian hospitals in occupied Jerusalem.

The finance ministry had also transferred last week another 5 million shekels ($1.4 million) to the same hospital to help it buy drugs badly needed for its cancer patients after the hospital had announced it ran out of cancer medicine.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) transfers most West Bank and Gaza patients to East Jerusalem hospitals, including Augusta Victoria, which has a specialized cancer department. However, following failure of the PA to pay the hospitals the fees for the transferred patients as a result of its own financial difficulties, East Jerusalem hospitals found themselves in a dire financial situation that forced them to cut down on their services, including accepting cancer and other patients transferred by the PA.

 

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