Aster Medical Centre (AMC) lives up to its motto ‘Big on Care’ with the opening of yet another branch, its largest centre in the country with a big team of specialists and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. The opening of the sixth AMC in Qatar coincides with its 10th anniversary since DM Healthcare, a leading healthcare conglomerate in the Middle East and India, established its presence in the country.
DM Healthcare itself has just celebrated 25 years of service having started in Dubai in 1987.
“We started in Dubai; from there we expanded operations in the Middle East and in India where we currently have good presence,” Dr Sameer Moopen, Managing Director, DM Healthcare, Qatar Operations, told The Peninsula, adding they are presently the largest healthcare provider in the Gulf.
“In Dubai alone we have three hospitals now and almost 80 pharmacies and 28 medical centres,” he said.
In 2002, DM Healthcare rolled out operations in India with one of the largest private hospitals called Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences.
The following year, the first AMC in Qatar was founded in Musheireb area with five doctors, five nurses and three administrative staff.
“At present we have 62 doctors, six medical centres, two diagnostic centres and six pharmacies in Qatar,” said Dr Moopen.
Big on Care
Occupying three-storeys, the new AMC is DM Healthcare’s largest branch in the country. It is located at C Ring Road, near the Ministry of Labour adjacent to Grid Co 3 building.
The new centre is a one-stop shop as a medical centre with a pharmacy and a full-fledged diagnostic centre.
On the ground floor is the diagnostic centre equipped with advanced radiology department and laboratories. Also on the ground floor is the pharmacy.
An area has been dedicated for families and children on the first floor Wing B. It houses paediatrics and obstetrics and gynaecolgy departments in addition to vaccination and dermatology clinics. Wing A has the orthopaedics and ENT deparments.
Second floor houses the administrative department, ophthalmology, dental and physiotherapy departments. CT scan which would start operation in May would also be located on the same floor.
To officially open today, the new AMC would also be the largest in terms of staff.
“There would be at least two doctors in each department and we are planning to open the centre for 24 hours in the near future. We would have five departments in dental care and we would have a good physiotherapy department,” said Dr Moopen.
To facilitate easy access to the new AMC, Dr Moopen said they would be introducing shuttle service to take customers from nearby parking areas.
Leaders in healthcare
Aster Medical Centre has been the most sought after healthcare provider in the country witnessing a big number of customers every day.
“In terms of footfalls, I can say we are the leading private centre here. On an average we see around 1,500 patients a day, all clinics put together.”
On their success despite the rise of more clinics in the country, Dr Moopen said: “It is the trust that people have with us having been in this field for sometime. Quality is also key.
Some customers who have switched to other clinics ultimately come back because of their confidence on our doctors,” he said.
Quality service
“Our aim is to stop people from going abroad to seek treatment for their medical illness. We want them to stay here, give them quality service and show them the best treatment is available here,” he said.
Dr Moopen said it is not impossible to achieve that in Qatar based on their experience in Dubai where they have started.
“We have been successful in the UAE to a large extent. We can give that to our customers here and that is exactly what we are doing now,” he said.
To further improve their service, DM Healthcare is set to open more medical centres and in addition introduce access clinics.
“Access clinics are for the lower segment of the society which provides good doctors and facilities at lower charge. This is something we have already launched in Dubai, where there are already around three or four access clinics now. The consultation fee and other things will be less,” he explained.
Mandatory health insurance
boon to private health sector
With the announcement that the government would soon implement mandatory health insurance, Dr Moopen is of the view this would positively impact the private health sector.
“One of the main reasons for the influx of many private clinics in Qatar was when this was announced sometime back,” he said, adding once the insurance sector opens up people will start availing the services of private health sector.
“Most people are using the services of Hamad because of the cost, but once the health insurance is made mandatory, it would have a very positive effect on the private sector, provided the private sector doesn’t misuse it. That’s where work ethics and medical ethics come into play.”
“We should not just look at profit. Profit should not be the main aim; it should just be the byproduct. We want to give service to our customers and of course profit should be there; only then we could give good service to the people.”
He said profit should be there but it should be given back to the customers in terms of quality service and treatment. He is very positive it would work well like the case of Abu Dhabi.
Towards a healthy population
With the exponential growth and success AMC has achieved through the years, AMC continuously gives back to the community through a number of initiatives such as the Community Good Health Programme (CGHP).
Among the activities they have held in line with the initiative are the diabetic expo and lectures on basic life support.
They have also introduced STRAP (Safety Tips for Road Accident Prevention) in which booklets were published and distributed to the public for free.
In addition they also conduct various campaigns such as on heat stress during summer, regular blood donation drives and health camps.
“We have identified new cases of diabetes and hypertension in these camps, killer diseases which people are not aware of until later in life when they suffer from attacks.”
The latest camp they have conducted in MES Indian School in November last year saw 1,200 people who availed of free BMI and diabetes tests and medicines.
Preventive healthcare, Dr Moopen said, is something AMC is focusing on in addition to health awareness campaigns.
“Health awareness is something we want to give more importance to. We want to educate people about diseases and for them to have regular checks to be aware of these diseases to take preventive steps. We want healthy people.”
The PEninsula
