New health centers to bring services closer to patients: Minister

HE the Minister of Public Health Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari

HE the Minister of Public Health Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari Tuesday stressed that the plan to open a number of new health centers in the country aims at offering health services closer to the homes of patients, considering the geographical distribution and population density of each area in which a health center is located. She added that the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) is working to ensure that all patients receive health care at the right time and place while improving patients' experience and enhancing their safety. There is also continuous development of the quality of services provided to keep pace with patient's needs while applying the best and highest standards of quality, HE Al Kuwari also pointed out that the National Primary Health Care Strategy is committed to enabling the patient to have faster access to high-quality primary health care services to achieve patient satisfaction level, noting that the opening of the new health center came amid Al Khor city's rapid urbanization and a significant increase in population density For her part, the Managing Director of PHCC, Dr. Mariam Abdulmalik, mentioned that the new Al Khor Health Center has been provided with all the necessary requirements to deliver an outstanding health and medical services level for optimal use, noting that it has been implemented in accordance with the highest international standards approved for health facilities, to achieve the required sustainability standards and ensure the comprehensiveness and integration of the services. The new Al Khor Health Center substitutes the current Al Khor vacated Health Center, to become one of PHCC's 28 health centers, distributed across all regions of the country. Its capacity is 5,000 patients, and those eligible can register in it through PHCC's Nar'aakom mobile application. The health center is open 7 days a week from 7 AM to 11 PM and will provide services based on pre-booked appointments, as well as through the system of entering patients without appointments after classification when they visit the center. The center includes family medicine clinics, pregnancy and postpartum follow-up, healthy children and periodic immunizations, healthy women, non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases and travel immunizations, smart health examination, health and wellness, dental, ear, nose and throat examination, hearing examination, skin diseases, and eyes, Optometry, integrated psychiatry, adolescent health, maternal and child health consultations, premarital examination, nutritionist, health education, physical therapy, in addition to pharmacy services, medical laboratories, and radiology department, which contains (X-ray room, ultrasound room ) and isolation room. The project design has considered the requirements of persons with special needs, including signage messaging, illustrations and Braille script, comfortable toilets, wide walkways for easy movement, auto-sensor doors, and reception desks with convenient height, besides car parking spaces close to the main entrances and ramps in place of steps.