Palestinian health minister reveals financial crisis

A deep financial crisis is threatening hospitals in Jerusalem and their operation, Palestinian Health Minister Hani Abdeen and hospital managers have revealed. Six hospitals in East Jerusalem face a major financial crisis, due to the inability of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to pay the cost of health services, exposing thousands of patients in the West Bank to danger. The accumulated debt of the PA is around $18 million in receivables for healthcare centers. The referral of patients to hospitals in East Jerusalem are increasing, and we rely almost exclusively on them for rare specializations, Jordanian newspaper (al-Dostor) quoted Abdeen. For his part, Augusta Victoria Hospital Director Tawfiq Nasser said that when the PA is facing any financial difficulties it halts payments, but the hospital should continue to receive patients, adding that he can no longer continue to provide the same services and this puts patients at risk Several hospitals in East Jerusalem have signed agreements with the PA since 1997 to receive patients from the West Bank and Gaza, provided that the costs are paid monthly, but the payments stopped about ten months ago.