Tel Aviv, Feb. 4 -- The Assuta Ashdod Hospital in Ashdod was rated Israel's top medical center in the Health Ministry's first ever quality and service ratings released on Monday.

The pilot rating system evaluated public hospitals on six key criteria -- staffing levels of specialist physicians, qualified nurses with advanced training, readmission rates within seven days of discharge, patient satisfaction surveys, and implementation of internal service improvement processes.

"Internal medicine departments are the backbone of our healthcare system, caring for our most complex patients," said Health Minister Uriel Buso. "This new rating system will help drive improvements in care quality and service delivery."

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