Three hospitals at Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City are inching closer to public opening, as Qatar’s public works authority announced today that construction and fit-out of the facilities has been completed.
The new hospitals – an Ambulatory Care Center, the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute and the Women’s Wellness and Research Center – will create more than 500 additional beds for patients when they eventually open to the public, Ashghal said ahead of the handover of the facilities to the Ministry of Public Health.
Ashghal has been overseeing the development of the 227,000-square-meter site in Rumaila in central Doha, which has been led by Korean-based Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co.
However, the project is running behind schedule. Last January, Ashghal said construction – which began in February 2011 – was 80 percent finished.
Following a visit to the site last year, Qatar’s Prime Minister said the three hospitals in the QR2.4 billion medical complex must be complete and fully equipped by the summer of 2015. However, that deadline was missed.
Qatar’s health authorities have not given an opening date for the new hospitals. However, Hamad Medical Corp. said last week that they would be among seven new medical facilities set to open in Qatar before the end of 2017.
Also opening in that period will be a Communicable Diseases Hospital and three hospitals for male laborers.
New facilities
Ahead of the hand-over, Ashghal gave a sneak peek of the facilities at each of the hospitals.
The Ambulatory Care Center will provide outpatient care and minor surgery for adults who do not require an overnight stay.
According to a statement from Ashghal, this center has 116 beds and 14 operating theaters with recovery rooms and support.
It also includes radiology and examination suites, as well as treatment rooms and 12 examination rooms for ENT (ear, nose and throat) audiology.
HMC previously said that it’s the first such specialized center in the region
The Qatar National Diabetes Center will also be housed in the building. It will have more than 30 examination rooms and more than 50 short-stay rooms.
The Qatar Rehabilitation Institute will offer a range of specialized services including physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy, prosthetics and orthotics.
The institute will have approximately 200 beds as well as an adult hydrotherapy suite. Additionally, there will be outpatient clinics for occupational therapy, prosthesis, organ transplantation and inpatient therapy support.
The outpatient physical therapy facilities include:
- 12 treatment rooms;
- 4 gyms;
- A group therapy room; and
- A suite for education and support services.
HMC said last week that it will also house dedicated facilities to help stroke patients recover.
When it finally opens to the public, the Women’s Wellness and Research Center will create much-needed additional provision for pregnant women in Qatar.
The hospital will have approximately 200 beds and 53 neonatal intensive care cots.
Ashghal said its facilities will include seven operating theaters, 21 delivery rooms and 60 outpatient rooms.
It will have a full accident and emergency department with a series of rooms for Cesarean section deliveries, triage, ultrasound, treatment rooms and rooms for emergency deliveries, the authority added.
It previously said that the hospital will have capacity for 15,000 births a year.
HMC last year told Doha News that the new center would replace the existing Women’s Hospital, which currently delivers around 17,000 babies a year, and will work alongside Sidra Medical and Research Center and other HMC hospitals in the country.
In addition to the new hospitals, the project also includes the main kitchen for the new medical city, with a capacity for delivering 8,000 meals a day and a robotic pharmacy, Ashghal stated.
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