DOHA: Faced with huge rush and crowding at its emergency department, the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is planning to establish a new emergency unit close to the existing facility, a senior HMC official has said.
HMC’s emergency unit alone received 465,000 visitors last year, against 493,000 visitors seen by the other HMC facilities. The Paediatric Emergency at Al Sadd also saw a more or less similar number of visitors last year- 437,000, said HMC’s medical director Dr Yousuf Al Maslamani.
“We are working on a project to build a new emergency unit in front of the current emergency department. It will take two years or more to complete the project,” Al Maslamani told Al Sharq.
He said all short stay cases currently treated at the emergency department will be transferred to the new Short Stay hospital being built at the Hamad bin Khalifa Medical City. The area being used to accommodate short stay patients will be added to the emergency unit once the hospital is ready. The short stay unit received 5383 cases last year.
Some ENT clinics and those treating leg and foot diseases as well as ultra sound units will also be shifted to the Short Stay hospital.
All specialised paediatric clinics at HMC will be transferred to the Sidra Medical and Research Centre once it becomes functional.
Currently Hamad General Hospital has 600 beds, with 14 beds for each 10,000 people in the country. Patients needing long term treatment are currently occupying 70 beds. Some such patients stay for six months or more and some are reluctant to leave the hospital after treatment. “We are planning to open a new building for long stay patients,” said the official.
He said, next month, HMC will start construction of breast cancer clinics which will provide integrated services. There is a plan to establish a centre providing oxygen therapy for diabetics.
HMC currently has 666 consultants of whom 249 are Qataris. It conducted 13,281 surgeries last year. By April, next year HMC will finish assessment of all medical staff and then start a continuous education system to upgrade their standards to international levels, said the official.
The Peninsula
