The Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has registered about 40,000 visits from patients at its outpatient clinics since its soft opening in May 2017, disclosed a top official.
ACC has also conducted more than 900 surgeries since December 17 last year when the hospital was formally opened.
“ACC has two distinct sectors- the outpatient clinics and the operation theatres. We have a number of clinics for various departments such as urology, ophthalmology, ENT, gastroenterology, podiatry and pre-admission anaesthesia. All these clinics are open and operational except the ophthalmology clinic which will be opened soon,” explained Dr Khalid Mohamed al-Jalham, director of ACC.
“We have 14 theatres for the surgeries. We have started surgeries for ophthalmology, urology, ENT and paediatric dental. These surgeries are day care surgeries where the patients will stay less than 23 hours and if more time needed, they will go to the inpatient area. The inpatient surgery facility is at present available only for ENT and Ophthalmology,” continued Dr al-Jalham.
“There are two areas for the patients who undergo the day care surgery. We have 22 PACU (post-anaesthesia care unit) facilities where the patients stay after the surgery for recovery from anaesthesia. We also have 32 beds at the stage 2 recovery section," highlighted Dr al-Jalham.
According to Dr al-Jalham, ACC is offering the patients a new and advanced approach to surgical care in Qatar. “This centre is specialised for day care operation where the patient will stay in the hospital for a short period. It gives a huge opportunity for the physicians to impact the whole system of the hospital as well as to upgrade their skills. It will impact very much on the entire system on waiting list, reduce the number of inpatients among others,” pointed out the official.
“The ACC is a new concept in Qatar as well as in the whole region. It is very rare to have a whole hospital dedicated for day care surgery. It is such a unique facility in the entire Middle East to have a hospital only for day care surgeries. There are only two inpatient facilities so far which are ENT and ophthalmology,” he highlighted.
The official also said that any patient can visit the hospital with a referral from a health facility. “Any healthcare facility- both private and government- can refer the patients to the hospital. We offer a very specialised service and therefore we need to triage the patients,” he added.
