By Noimot Olayiwola
Staff Reporter
The building of the Hamad Medical Corporation’s new cardiology hospital, The Qatar Heart Centre (QHC), is nearing completion and will be handed over for commissioning next month, executive director Dr Mahmoud al-Raisi has disclosed.
The centre was originally slated for opening last year, but the project has been delayed.
“Work is almost complete on the building with finishing touches remaining and we have installed up to 70% of required equipment,” he told Gulf Times.
Coming up within the Rumailah Hospital complex, near the Emergency Medical Services headquarters and Hamad International Training Centre, QHC has a built-up area of 25,000sqm.
Dr al-Raisi said the hospital initially would have 116 beds. This will be in addition to the 60 presently available at the Hamad Hospital’s cardiology department. An extra 50 beds will be added later.
Dr al-Raisi said that some members of staff, hired a year ago, were already having partial access to the building, adding that full operation was expected to start by June next year.
”We have recruited up to 600 staff comprising doctors, nurses and technicians and we plan to hire more experts soon,” he said.
The QHC, which will soon be an independent cardiology hospital, has two catherisation laboratories and three operating theatres.
“Our aim is to make the centre function independently but it will be electronically linked to other hospitals for easy access to patients’ information,” Dr al-Raisi said.
“We plan to implement an improved appointment system as we expect to provide service for walk-in patients.”
“Plans are in the pipeline to secure partnerships of reputable research organisations and centres across the world,” he said. |
