By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: Giving a major boost to the healthcare sector in Qatar, construction of three specialised hospitals at Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City has been completed.
The facilities can together treat 4,000 patients a day.
Ambulatory Care Centre; Qatar Rehabilitation Institute; and Women’s Wellness and Research Centre have also been partially equipped and the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) started the process of handing them over to Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) on April 30 and the process is expected to be completed by June. “We are responsible for the construction of building and equipping it with furniture,” Engineer Abdulmohsin Hassan Al Rashid, Head of Health Projects, Buildings Project Management Department, Ashghal, told reporters during a tour of the facilities.
“We have fixed some equipment such as MRI machines and the robotic pharmacy which has to be fixed within the building. The others we call loose equipment will be fixed by HMC.
“There are 559 beds, including those in ICU. The rest will be outpatient facilities,” Al Rashid added.
Ashghal has also completed examination, inspection and testing procedures for technical and electromechanical systems. The QR3.7bn project has been completed in four years.
The three hospitals are interconnected and built according to highest specifications and international standards and provide a comfortable indoor environment for patients, medical staff and visitors.
Ambulatory Care Centre has 116 beds and 14 operating theatres with recovery rooms. Ambulances have the facility to drive near to elevators which will lift patients to operating theaters.
The operating theatres include an integrated system through screens connected with medical and non-medical systems in the room. They also have the facility for robotic surgeries. The building has extensive radiology and examination suites and treatment rooms, and 12 examination rooms for ENT audiology.
“Ambulatory Care Centre will serve patients who need minor surgeries and could leave the hospital overnight,” said Al Rashid.
Qatar National Diabetes Centre is in this building, with over 30 examination and more than 50 short-stay rooms. Qatar Rehabilitation Institute has 200 beds, and one state-of-the-art adult hydrotherapy suite. It is also equipped with a ‘Patient Lift’ which helps patients unable to move. It is an automated equipment hanging from the ceiling that carries patients to help them stand up and move.
“The hydrotherapy suite is considered one of the most advanced hydrotherapy suites in the Gulf,” said Al Rashid.
The building includes outpatient clinics for occupational therapy, prosthesis, organ transplantation and inpatient therapy support.
The outpatient physical therapy has 12 treatment rooms, four gyms and a main suite for education and support services. The main laboratory is also in this building.
Women’s Wellness and Research Centre includes 190 beds and 53 neonatal intensive care cots. It also has seven operating theatres, and 21 delivery and 60 outpatient examination rooms. It includes an emergency department and rooms for C-section, triage, ultrasound, and treatment and emergency deliveries rooms.
The main kitchen of the Medical City’s hospitals has a daily capacity of preparing 8,000 meals. Pharmacy robotic systems that transfer and prepare medications automatically for various sections are also situated within the eight-storey building which houses the three hospitals.
HMC recently announced that Ambulatory Care Centre, Qatar Rehabilitation Institute and Women’s Wellness and Research Centre are among seven hospitals to open by end of 2017.
The Peninsula
