The remaining works will be completed in the coming months, with the specialized surgery facility expected to be fully operational by early 2021.Once completed, several surgical services will be relocated to thenew facility, including orthopedic surgery, vascular surgery, urology, and organ transplantation.There are also plans to relocate bariatric surgery servicesto the Surgical Specialty Center.
Dr. Mohamed El Akkad, Vice Chair of Surgery at HMC, said the refurbishment works will significantly enhance the look and feel of the Surgical Specialty Center.
“The completion of maintenance and renovation works on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building in late 2019 enabled us to move 86 general and craniomaxillofacial surgery inpatients, as well as urgent surgery patients,from the 5th and 6th floors. Work on the 4th floor is expected to be completed soon and will be followed by maintenance and renovation works on the remaining floors of the building. Planned refurbishment works on the 4th floor include renovations to walls and floors and will increase the number of rooms to 52, as well as the size of these rooms. Each floor of the building will housesix private rooms, bringing the total number of private inpatient rooms tothirty,” said Dr. El Akkad.
Dr. El Akkad explained that the Center, which is administratively affiliated with Hamad General Hospital (HGH), will help increase the surgical capacity at HGH by adding three new operating theaters, bringing the total number of operating theaters in the hospital to 20. The expansion isalso expected to lead to an increase in the number of surgeries performed at the hospital by 12 cases per day, bringing the total number of surgeries performed to around 80 cases per day.Theaddition of new beds will also allow for an increase in the number of non-urgent (elective) surgeries performeddaily at HGH by up to 50 percent, which will help reduce waiting times and prevent the postponement of planned surgical procedures.
“The repurposed facility is expected to help reduce patient wait times for surgery in the emergency department. It will also provide patients witha ‘one-stop-shop’ approach to care by co-locating services and offering access to multidisciplinary carewithin one facility. This work will ultimately improve the quality of care we provide and shorten the length of stay for many patients,” said Dr. El Akkad.
“Once fully operational, the Center will facilitate more efficient patient care pathways through introducing a modern, integrated patient tracking system that will eliminate the need to stay in the hospital the night before surgery for day surgery patients. The system will enable patients to check into the hospital on the morning of their surgery for pre-surgery preparation and then return to the hospital later in the day to undergo theiroperation. These renovation works will also see the addition of new amenities for patients and visitors, including a minimarket,”added Dr. El Akkad.
The Surgical Specialty Center was partially commissioned in early 2019 in the former Women’s Hospital building following the relocation of most of that hospital’s services to the new Women’s Wellness and Research Center.The establishment of the Surgical Specialty Center supports HMC’s ongoing work towards attaining internationalrecognition as a center of excellence for specialized surgery. Once fully operational, the Surgical Specialty Center will be an important addition to Qatar’s health system and will help place HMC’s surgical services on par with the world’s best specialized surgical facilities, including the United States-based Mayo Clinic and New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Canada’s Toronto General Hospital.
