His Excellency Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, inaugurated PHCC’s new Al Khor Health and Wellness Center today.
His Excellency toured the new health center and was briefed about the most important medical resources and equipment, including specialized clinics, departments equipped with the latest medical technologies offering primary health care services, and health and wellness facilities. He was also briefed about the health services available to patients in the new health center, in particular, to those living in Al Khor city and in 30 other near zones.
He was accompanied by Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, Dr. Mariam Abdulmalik, Managing Director of PHCC, and a number of senior officials in the health sector.
The opening of the new health center comes within the country’s continuous efforts to provide the best care for the entire population in Qatar, and as part of the comprehensive expansion and constant upgrade of all matters related to health centers offering primary care services.
In this regard, Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, stressed that the plan to open a number of new health centers in the country aims at offering health services near to patients’ homes, considering the geographical distribution and population density of each area in which a health center is located. This is according to well-studied plans that consider the country’s needs and densely populated areas.
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 a continuous development of the quality of services provided to keep pace with patients’ needs, while applying the best and highest standards of quality.
Her Excellency 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 patients' satisfaction level, noting that the opening of the new health center came amid Al Khor city’s rapid urbanization and significant increase in population density.
For her part, Dr. Mariam Abdulmalik, Managing Director of PHCC, 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 for walk-ins after triage.
The services covered in the main building include family medicine, prenatal and postnatal follow-up, well-baby and periodic vaccinations, women’s health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, travel vaccination, SMART health checks, health and wellness, dermatology, ear, nose and throat (ENT), audiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, optometry, integrated psychiatry, adolescent health, maternal and child health consultations, premarital examinations, nutritionists, health education, and physical therapy. In addition to pharmacy services, medical labs, radiology section (including X-Ray & ECG room), and an isolation room.
Spread over an area of about 25,000sq m, Al Khor Health Center includes a double-story main building with a main clinical building (health center), in addition to annex buildings, a mosque, support services building, guards building, monitoring chamber, an electrical and mechanical maintenance annex, a garage for ambulances, and 300 parking slots.
The buildings design also reflects the heritage and culture of Qatar without compromising international standards of safety for fire protection, besides green buildings and a 3-star rated sustainability. Another important design feature of the architectural design of the health center is inclusion of next generation technologies in the field of medical equipment.
The project design has considered 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.
The location of Al Khor Health Center around schools enhances future activities to support common issues and interests between the two.