Number of hospital beds to touch 2,000 by 2012
Originally published in Gulf Times on January 23, 2008
QATAR is expected to have close to 2,000 hospital beds available by 2012, once the major upgrades in the health sector of the country are completed, said Dr Michael Walsh, during an interactive session with the audience at the MEED Qatar Conference 2008 yesterday.
“Currently standing at a total capacity of 1,000 beds in the country, the number is set to get a boost after the opening of Hamad Medical City, Sidra Medical and Research Center of Qatar Foundation and the AI-Wakrah Hospital,” said Dr Walsh.
All the facilities are slated to be ready by 2011-2012. The Sidra Centre will offer 350 beds, and the Wakra Hospital in the south of the country will have 305 beds for the patients.
The renovation of some of the blocks 41 the Hamad Medical City, which has been renamed after previously serving as the Asian Games athletes’ village, has been completed, and the first block of the accommodation for HMC has commenced as well. After undergoing transformation, the multi-purpose area will also become NHA’s headquarters.
“There was an illusion that the buildings were ready for occupation right after the Games, when essentially they were just shells and needed installation of proper fixtures and other things,” said Dr Walsh.
Asked if the NHA is indeed the owner of governmentowned hospitals and facilities, Dr Walsh pointed out that NHA is solely a “regulatory body.”
“Apart from running a couple of vaccination clinics, NHA is simply not involved in providing services to the public. It’s the semi-autonomous organisations like BMC and Sidra Medical Centre that are into provisions, and they are funded by the government,” he explained.
On the question of mandatory health insurance for all residents of the country, Dr Walsh pointed out that “The intention is to shift the sheer amount of finances and other transactional operations to the third parties.”
“The government still remains a dominant provider of health care in the country but we are now encouraging the private sector also to take part in building the new insurance system,” he added.
Asked if the authority is considering allowing alternative medicines, such as herbal and homeopathy medicines, into the country, Dr Walsh said: “We are establishing a committee to oversee the regulation of alternative medicines.”
As Published
