Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Yuli Edelstein on Tuesday announced the appointment of Prof. Nachman Ash as head of “Magen Yisrael,” Israel’s coordinated effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prof. Ash teaches at the School of Health Sciences, Department of health systems management, Ariel University.
Prof. Ash will begin the transition with the departing Cazar, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, who will return to his old job as director-general of Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv.
Prof. Ash, 59, is married to Dr. Shifra Ash and the father of three children. The PM’s office sent us these bio notes:
Prof. Ash was born in Israel in 1961. He received his MD degree from Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University in 1986. Completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the Sheba Medical Center in 1997.
In 2001 received an MS degree in Medical Informatics from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health, Sciences, and Technology, Boston, US.
Prof. Ash has also a Master’s degree in political sciences from the University of Haifa.
Prof. Ash has been a military physician for 25 years. He retired in the rank of Brigadier General in 2011, after completing intensive 4 years as the Surgeon General of the IDF.
Between Jan 2012 and July 2013 served as a senior Deputy Director-General for Health Informatics in the Ministry of Health.
In August 2013 Prof. Ash joined Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) as the chief Director of the “Sharon” district. A year later he was promoted to be the Director of the Health Division of MHS, a position that he currently holds.