The Hadassah Medical Organization hid its illegal 2014 deficit from the public, donors, government agencies and its creditors, an investigation has found.
Army Radio’s Jan. 6 investigative report put the deficit at $370 million — an amount that violated Hadassah’s corporate guidelines and broke Israeli law for nongovernmental organizations.
In a September letter to Israel’s NGO registrar, Hadassah accountants said the economic situation at Hadassah “raises serious doubts as to whether the hospital can continue to operate.” But Hadassah reportedly delayed turning the letter over to the registrar’s office.
Hadassah’s board chair, Erez Meltzer, told Army Radio that the hospital did turn over the letter but the registrar’s office delayed making it public. He also told Army Radio that the hospital is not in danger of closing.
Meanwhile, a business newspaper reported on Jan. 6 that the state comptroller has recommended that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein launch an investigation into the alleged withdrawal of funds by Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, from the Hadassah Medical Association in the 1990s. — jta