During this intense period, members of the INBAR Network — hospital directors and administrators from throughout Israel — decided to create a forum in which to brainstorm and share insights on urgent problems, some of them shared by all and others similar to one another. Should family visits be allowed in COVID-19 wards? Perhaps only to enable family members to say goodbye? These are questions that extend beyond a single manager, and the forum provided all participants a space in which to deliberate, learn, contemplate, and even feel less alone.
The forum has been supplemented by an additional one — this one led by community health providers, and similarly rooted in a deep sense of trust. Managers from all the different HMOs, both from headquarters and fieldworkers, have decided to make room in their agendas for a degree of collaboration without forgetting the differences and competition that exist outside the forum. After all, it goes without saying that every clinic has to endure the realities of COVID-19, maintaining protocol and minimizing isolations and infections.
These forums uniquely illustrate how mutual connections between Network members can positively impact their ability to do their jobs.