Clalit, (, General Health Services; previously – , General Sick Fund), is the largest of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

's four state-mandated health service organizations, charged with administering health care services and funding for its members. (All Israeli citizens resident in the country must be a member of one of the four providers.) Widely known as Kupat Holim Clalit, it was established in 1911 as a

mutual aid society A benefit society, fraternal benefit society, or fraternal benefit order is a voluntary association formed to provide mutual aid, benefit, for instance insurance for relief from sundry difficulties. Such organizations may be formally organized with ...

. When the State of Israel was founded in 1948, Clalit was instrumental in providing medical care for the massive influx of new immigrants. Today, it is the largest provider of public and semi-private health services in Israel. Under Israeli law, it is run as a not-for-profit entity.

History

The foundations for Kupat Holim Clalit were laid by the Judea Workers' Health Fund, established at a convention of the Federation of Workers in Judea in December 1911. Historically, Clalit was affiliated with the

Histadrut Histadrut, fully the New General Workers' Federation () and until 1994 the General Federation of Labour in the Land of Israel (, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center and represents the m ...

labor movement. To be a member of Clalit, one had to join the Histadrut. The name "Clalit" means "general" in Hebrew and derives from the Histadrut's full name – ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael'' (''lit.'' "The ''General'' Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel"). In January 1995, Israel's national health insurance law went into effect, creating a compulsory health care system based on four service providers: Clalit, Leumit, Maccabi, and Meuhedet. Clalit is the largest of the four health funds with around 4.6 million insured members, representing slightly over half of the Israeli population in 2020. Since the 1995 law went into effect, membership has been open to all citizens and its tie to the Histadrut has been severed.

Services

Clalit runs its own network of hospitals in Israel (although it provides services, especially emergency care, for members of the other national health funds as well). It operates 14 hospitals, including psychiatric hospitals and a rehabilitation hospital, all of them university-affiliated. Clalit runs over 1,300 primary care clinics as well as a network of pharmacies and dental clinics. It was an early adopter of

health information technology Health information technology (HIT) is health technology, particularly information technology, applied to health and health care. It supports health information management across computerized systems and the secure exchange of health informati ...

with substantial investment in

electronic health record An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of electronically stored patient and population health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared thro ...

s. In 2015 nearly 60% of its pediatric consultations took place over smartphones.

Hospitals

Soroka Medical Center Soroka University Medical Center (, ''HaMerkaz HaRefu'i Soroka''), a part of the Clalit Health Services Group, is the general hospital of Beersheba, Israel, it serves as the central hospital of the region and provides medical services to approx ...

(founded in 1960) in

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

. The largest hospital in the Clalit network, serves over half the area of the State of Israel, and a population of 1 million. Soroka is a referral center for the Barzilai and Yoseftal hospitals. * Rabin Medical Center – Beilinson Campus (founded in 1938) in

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

. Among its specialties are open-heart surgery and neurosurgery, as well as heart, liver and kidney transplants. * Rabin Medical Center – Golda Campus (founded in 1942) in Petah Tikva. Among its specialties are total joint replacement, home dialysis, vascular surgery, and hematology research using electromicroscopic techniques. *Lady Davis Hospital (founded in 1967) in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

. It is part of the modern Carmel Medical Center. and provides healthcare to the inhabitants of Haifa, its suburbs and points north. Among its specialties are its

Cardiology Cardiology () is the study of the heart. Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery di ...

Cardiovascular In vertebrates, the circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the body. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, that consists of the heart a ...

and

Thoracic The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main ...

Surgery Departments, and its Community and Medicine

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

Department * HaEmek Medical Center – (founded in 1930) in

Afula Afula () is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of . Afula's ancient tell (settlement mound) suggests habit ...

. A general hospital which also specializes in the treatment of fertility and reproductive problems. * Meir Hospital (founded in 1960) in

Kfar Saba Kfar Saba ( ), officially Kfar Sava , is a List of Israeli cities, city in the Sharon plain, Sharon region, of the Central District (Israel), Central District of State of Israel, Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-l ...

. It is part of the Sapir Medical Center. It specializes in its treatment of pulmonary diseases and spinal surgery. * Kaplan Medical Center (founded in 1953) in

Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

. It is known for its expertise in

hand surgery Hand surgery deals with both surgical and non-surgical treatment of conditions and problems that may take place in the hand or upper extremity (commonly from the tip of the hand to the shoulder), American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Retriev ...

. * Yoseftal Medical Center (founded in 1968) in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

. It is part of the Yoseftal Medical Center. It is Israel’s southernmost hospital.

Clalit Research Institute

Clalit Research Institute was established in 2010. It is composed of clinicians, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, data scientists, and public health experts who work in collaboration with

policymakers Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

, healthcare providers, and international partners. The Institute uses Clalit’s electronic health record (EHR) database, which spans decades of detailed patient data, to develop tools for healthcare. Focus Areas * Predictive Models: Developing AI-driven tools for proactive and preventive care, tackling chronic, infectious, and malignant diseases. * Comparative Effectiveness: Researching real-world outcomes of medical interventions. * Epidemiology: Tracking population health and creating innovative clinical interventions to address national health priorities. COVID-19 Research The Institute played a key role during the COVID-19 pandemic, developing predictive models for risk stratification and mortality, which were integrated into Clalit’s care delivery processes

References

External links