As Sidra Medicine marked hundred days of operations of its inpatient facility on Monday, it has cared for over 1,000 inpatients, since the facility became operational on January 14.
“In the first 100 days, we have cared for over 500 women and around the same number of children as inpatients," Peter Morris, CEO of Sidra Medicine told Gulf Times in an exclusive interview.
The high-tech specialty hospital for women, young people and children is a part of Qatar Foundation.
"We have delivered over 300 babies and conducted over 600 surgeries including a complicated but very successful brain tumour surgery,” he explained.
The official pointed out that Sidra Medicine has launched a number of new services throughout our phased opening of the main hospital. "Under Women’s Services we have launched gynaecology care and the women’s urgent care service. Several new children’s services have been added,” Morris said.
“The transition for the majority of our children’s services is expected to be completed by the end of the summer, during which time we will also open our Paediatric Emergency Department,” he continued.
“We have increased not only the range of our services and surgeries but also the depth and complexity of these services. Last week, we successfully operated on an 18-month-old infant to remove a tumour in her brain. It was a complex surgery and we used highly advanced technology to perform the procedure. The operation went very smoothly and the baby was discharged a few days later,” he pointed out.
“Our mission here was to open steadily, seamlessly, safely and successfully and provide great care that we are expected of. We have made sure that our patients get the highest standards of safety and the best quality care comparable to any international standards,” maintained Morris.
“We had a very efficient opening of the hospital as the entire process went very smoothly, starting with the birth of the first baby girl, Maryam on day one, to the first twins in that same week. There is a steady increase in the number of patients since the main hospital opening and this is growing as we add more new services and clinics,” stated the CEO.
According to the official, the feedback from patients and their families has been very positive. He described a recent case when a local community member changed the plans to visit London for treatment and opting to come to Sidra Medicine instead, as proof of this experience.
“We are now seeing many people coming to Sidra Medicine for treatment rather than going abroad. This is a growing proof of the credibility of our organisation, the calibre of our healthcare teams and the services we have started to offer,” described the CEO.
“We hope that most people in the country will choose to come to us for the specialist children’s and women’s maternity and gynaecology services, instead of North America and Europe, because we are able to provide the same level of care here in Qatar.” he pointed out.
“We have also started to see some international referrals with patients travelling to Qatar seeking treatment and care with our teams, including a patient from North America. We have had over 100 referrals from outside Qatar since we opened our outpatient clinic. Several families would have most likely travelled elsewhere had it not been for the specialist service available here at Sidra Medicine,” concluded Morris.
