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Clalit Health Services – Israel's largest and leading healthcare organization and the second largest of its kind in the world – was founded in 1911 by the "Labor Federation of Agricultural Workers in Judea".
The idea to establish a mutual aid healthcare organization was the result of a work accident in which a Jewish laborer named Baruch Priver lost an arm while working in an orchard. The association's first clinic was located in a tent erected in "Ein Ganim" near Petach Tikva. A clinic for Yemenite Jewish laborers was subsequently opened nearby. In light of the establishment of a healthcare association by the "Labor Federation of Agricultural Workers in Judea" laborers in the Galilee and Samaria established their own regional healthcare associations as well.
The political changes Eretz Israel underwent in 19171918 also brought about a change in the public standing of healthcare associations and saw their evolution from regional organizations into larger political party entities. All of the regional associations were combined into two organizations, one associated with the "Labor Unity" party and the other with the "Young Worker" movement. With the subsequent founding of the Histadrut Labor Union in 1920, both organizations united under the auspices of the Histadrut as the "The Clalit (General) Health Services Association of Hebrew Laborers in Eretz Israel".
All residents of Mandatory Eretz Israel were eligible to join the Clalit Health Association, with no exception. The association began opening numerous clinics in various settlements across the country and established its first hospital in Ein Harod in 1923. Next, the Beilinson Hospital was inaugurated in the 1930's.
In 1936 the Histadrut and the healthcare association decided to combine the organizations' membership fees into one single payment of union fees. The healthcare association essentially relinquished its own financial independence and operated as a body within the Histadrut until 1994, when MK Haim Ramon initiated the separation between the two organizations and "Clalit Health Services" became an independent healthcare services organization.
Today, as it celebrates its 100th anniversary, Clalit is the largest healthcare organization in Israel, encompassing some 4 million clients, 14 hospitals, and 1,400 clinics and institutes. The organization employs nearly 8,200 doctors, including the most senior experts in their fields, as well as a professional staff of tens of thousands of nurses, pharmacists, para-medical employees and administrators (Clalit is the largest civilian employer in the country).
Clalit's Vision for "Healthy Living in Israel"
As a multidisciplinary healthcare organization and leader in the development of modern medicine, Clalit encourages its members to lead a healthy lifestyle, providing them with a wide range of advanced services to help them implement this goal. Based on the organizations holistic concept of health, it has extended its medical coverage to include a wide range of supplementary services such as aesthetic medicine, supplementary healthcare services, dentistry (Clalit Smile) and various imaging and diagnostic services (the Mor Institute). Clalit Mushlam (perfect), Zahav (gold) and Platinum –the most diverse, highest quality and most financially worthwhile array of supplementary insurance services, offers Clalit members a broad range of comprehensive coverage for the entire family.
Clalit offers its members the most advanced medical standards in Israel, with emphasis and focus on quality indices. The customer's needs are placed at the very center of all services and activities.
As a leading healthcare organization, Clalit works to protect the environment and is also widely active in the community. For its contribution to and impact on national environment protection efforts, Clalit was awarded the Ministry of Environmental Protection "Environmental Excellence" award in 2010. In the realm of community service, some 1,500 Clalit employees routinely contribute from their own time and energy to promote traffic safety, work with Israel's Ethiopian population and provide assistance to Holocaust survivors
Since its founding, Clalit has redefined the Israeli healthcare industry, leading innovative trends in various fields of research, services and technology, and is perceived in public opinion polls as the "best healthcare organization for families".
Eli Defes
CEO, Clalit Health Services
