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CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
The new Turkish Hospital in Doha celebrated its soft opening and welcomed the first set of patients on Tuesday.
The opening ceremony was attended by Turkish Ambassador to Qatar HE Ahmet Demirok, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey M Rifat Hisarcikliooglu and Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohamed al Thani.
The envoy and other guests took a tour of the facility.
Talking to Qatar Tribune, Medical Director of the hospital Dr Halit Aluzum said that the official opening of the hospital is expected to take place when President of Turkey Racep Toyyip Erdogan visits Qatar.
"I hope, in a month's time, we will have the official opening," he said.
He added that, on the first day, the hospital received about 25 cases ranging from paediatrics, emergency, obstetrics and gynaecology to internal medicine.
"Because the insurance companies have not yet agreed with the hospital until now, we received only private patients on the first day," he said.
According to him, though the hospital has a five-star facility, it aims to accept all kinds of patients.
"We aim to receive all kinds of patients in our hospital. We brought all experience from Turkey to Qatar to make the healthcare services one step forward in Qatar. That is what we need," Dr Aluzum.
He believed that the opening of the hospital will support the healthcare system in Qatar.
"Our aim is to support the healthcare system in Qatar. We brought experts and professors from Turkey to Qatar just to improve and support the healthcare system," he said.
According to Dr Aluzum, the hospital is capable of conducting all kinds of surgeries and consists of five operating theatres, fully furnished with all kind of equipment that can enable it handle major surgeries like cardiovascular and brain surgeries.
He said the hospital has 300 staff with capacity to attend to 1000 patients a day.
"Our doctors are all from Turkey while the other staff are international," he said.
