Sheba doctor named new director-general of the Israel Ministry of Health

Health minister chooses insider to be new director-general   Former deputy director of Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Prof. Arnon Afek, will replace Prof. Ronni Gamzu.

After weeks of interviewing potential candidates to replace Health Minister Director-General Prof. Ronni Gamzu, Health Minister Yael German decided on Wednesday to choose an inside candidate -- Prof. Arnon Afek, who has been in charge of its medical administration for some 17 months.

Afek, a 51-year-old pathologist who studied medicine at the Hebrew University Medical Faculty and medical administration at Ben-Gurion University, was prior to coming to the ministry the deputy director of the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. He serves in the reserves of the Israel Defense Forces as an aluf-mishne in the Medical Corps and also is a faculty member of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine. He is married to Dr. Limor Afek, a dentist, and the father of two.

German, who had been seeking a suitable female candidate for the job - which would have been a first for the ministry -- but did not manage to get one willing to take it, said that "the challenges facing the health system are huge. When recommendations of the [German] committee to strengthen the public health system are made and adopted, we will continue to make new reforms and continue with the ministry's accomplishments in many fields. Prof. Afek comes from inside the system and is one of its leaders, so the management continuity and vision will continue without shockwaves to the system."

German thanks Gamzu, who was in office for more than four years and will apparently return to Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and work as a gynecological surgeon.