DOHA: Over the next 15 years hospital beds in Qatar will be doubled from the existing 2,100 to 4,200 and the number of specialist clinics will cross 1,000, according to a master plan unveiled by the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) yesterday.
All HMC facilities around the Hamad General Hospital (HGH) will be expanded and unified under the umbrella of Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City (HBKMC), a developing healthcare, research and education hub located off the C-Ring road opposite HGH.
They will be connected to one another by a pedestrian bridge and walkways across the C-Ring road.
The 15-year ‘HMC Facilities Master Plan’ unveiled yesterday will see the massive expansion of HMC facilities in central Doha.
The Master Plan includes renovation and expansion of existing hospitals, new specialised hospitals, a metabolic centre, neurosciences centre, diagnostic and treatment centres, a school of clinical services and expansion of physiotherapy, critical care, children’s services, blood bank and mental health services.
“We have the opportunity to completely rethink how, what and where Hamad delivers care to our patients. This Master Plan is a major expansion and modernisation of the country’s healthcare infrastructure and service delivery model and will result in lasting benefits to our patients and the nation,” said Dr Hanan Al Kuwari, Managing Director, HMC, addressing a news conference yesterday.
She said that an expansion to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the existing Women’s Hospital, a new Communicable Diseases Hospital and Ambulatory Care Centre will be completed and open for patients in the first phase of the plan.
The renovated NICU is planned to be open by the end of this year, adding 26 beds to the existing 80, to care the critically ill newborns.
The Communicable Disease Hospital would open by late this year or early 2016, with 65 beds within the Al Rumailah compound. It will provide care for patients with transmissible diseases such as tuberculosis, SARS and MERS and HIV-AIDS. It will also provide travel vaccinations and after travel care for those who fall ill.
The expansion work at the main Paediatric Emergency Center (PEC) in Al Sadd is also scheduled to be completed by end of this year. Cases treated by the PEC include neurological, respiratory, cardiac, hematologic, metabolic and gastrointestinal emergencies.
Expansion of the PEC will create an additional 945sqm of space and include such features as a larger family waiting area, male and female waiting areas and a pharmacy.
A centre to provide ambulatory care including medical care, diagnosis, observation and treatment using clinical technology and procedures provided on an outpatient basis, is planned to open soon within the HBKMC.
As part of the plan there are measures to increase the number of ambulance points in the country from 20 to 40 by end of next year. Between 2015 and 2030, hospital beds will increase from 2,100 to 4,200 and car parking spaces will increase from 8,000 to 24,000. Also, specialist clinics will increase from 400 to more than 1,000 and the operating theatre capacity will increase from 40 to more than 90.
The Master Plan also seeks to transform HMC’s service delivery in areas outside of Doha with a network of new ambulatory care centres across the country. Hubs for secondary care will also be created at Al Khor, Al Wakra, and Cuban Hospitals using the model of one programme of care across multiple sites.
The number of beds at Al Khor and Al Wakrah hospitals will be increased to 500 by 2030.
“Major expansion and modernisation of healthcare services will help people not to travel to Doha for specialist services unless in a very critical situation,” said Dr Al Kuwari. Once the HMC Master Plan is fully implemented by 2030, Qatar will have a new hospital for tertiary care, a new hospital for cancer care, a new metabolic centre, a hospital in Al Shamal, psychiatric unit at Al Wakra hospital, children’s development centre at Al Wakra and a new blood donor unit.
The Peninsula
