Dr. Ray Bitton
This Is What Bold, Compassionate Medical Leadership Looks Like
As a teenager in a peripheral high school that didn’t offer advanced-level matriculation exams, no one could have predicted what would come next for Ray Bitton. No one except her.
Ray Bitton wasn’t born with a springboard. She built one with her bare hands.
Today, she’s Dr. Ray Bitton: a nephrology specialist, department head at Barzilai Medical Center, social justice advocate, IDF officer, mother of three daughters and one of the clearest voices shaping a more equitable future for Israeli healthcare.
A Long Road to Fulfillment
Ray completed an academic preparatory program (mechina) at Ben-Gurion University, graduated with distinction with a perfect 100 average, and continued to earn a bachelor’s degree in Emergency Medicine—again, graduating with honors.
Later, she received a scholarship from the ISEF Foundation, which recognized her potential and supported her throughout her medical journey. With the foundation’s help, she studied medicine in Hungary, and was finally accepted into the prestigious three-year track at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine at Bar-Ilan University in Safed.
There, in Israel’s north, she found not only academic excellence, but a sense of mission, community, and home.
Leading from Within the System
While interning in internal medicine at Assuta hospital in Ashdod, Ray saw firsthand the harsh reality faced by young doctors: 26-hour shifts, overwhelming workloads, and crushing burnout.
In 2019, with a two-month-old baby in her arms, she was elected Chair of “Mirsham,” the national organization for medical residents, abd she set out to change the system.
She appeared on national media, in the Knesset, at negotiation tables—leading one of the most important public healthcare battles of the past decade.
Between the Lab Coat and the Uniform
When the Iron Swords War broke out, despite being exempt, Ray volunteered for reserve duty, treating wounded soldiers on the front lines. Amid the chaos, she also suffered a personal loss—her brother-in-law, Colonel Roi Levy z”l, was killed in the October 7th attacks.
Still, she chose to keep showing up for others.
Now She’s on the Inside—To Make Change Happen
As the head of Internal Medicine D at Barzilai Medical Center, she’s determined to prove that the revolution she led, shortening medical shifts, is not only possible, but life-saving. She refuses to compromise on quality and demands that peripheral hospitals meet the same standards as those in central Israel.
“My path wasn’t easy, but it taught me that failures are just stations along the way to success. Today, I use the strength I’ve gained to lift others up—that’s my greatest privilege.”
"Look around you—there are kids who just need a small push up. Be that push," she asked In a Facebook post after completing medical school.
Dr. Ray Bitton is the living proof that one push can move mountains.