Since antimicrobial therapy for the treatment of community-acquired urinary tract infection is given empirically, knowledge of local antimicrobial sensitivity patterns is essential for clinicians. This study compares the susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs, of all urinary isolates from outpatients processed at the Ha'Emek Medical Center during 1995, 1999 and 2002. No significant changes in the susceptibility to ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin were seen over this period of time. There was a significant increase in susceptibility to amoxycillin-clavulanate, TMP-SXZ, cefuroxime and nitrofurantoin. MIC(90) values of all drugs except amoxicillin-clavulanate remained stable. In contrast to a worldwide increase in resistance, we observed not only a halt in this trend, but also an improvement in antimicrobial susceptibility of uropathogens in northern-Israel.