The provision of excellent health care is an issue all over the world. Medical costs are rising. Resources are strained. Health care consumers are more demanding and better informed. Globally, governments are admitting that they simply can’t cope. National health care resources must be supplemented by private sector initiatives.
The Kingdom’s Ministry of Health put out the call for assistance years ago. Private hospitals and clinics have been built. Insurance schemes abound. Technical institutes are training medical staff. Some progress has been made, but more is required.
Currently, one of the difficulties in the delivery of health services in Saudi Arabia is that most of the private facilities have been set up in major cities. Unfortunately, outlying towns and rural areas are still dependent on government resources, especially for in-patient hospital care.
“We are opening the Gulf Specialist Hospital in Qatif because we see a need for this facility and frankly, we believe it will be profitable,” said Zamil A. Al-Zamil, CEO and chairman of the board, Gulf Specialist Hospital (GSH). “People in the Qatif area were so happy when they heard about the hospital. For years they have been waiting for a specialist medical center to open in Qatif and we are proud to be the first.”
Decades back, Qatif and its surrounding area were nothing more than a collection of small villages. When the government’s general hospital opened outside Qatif years ago, it was considered adequate. Now the villages have become small towns. Tens of thousands of people not only in Qatif, but also in Saihat, Jish, Safwa and other nearby communities, are interested and can afford top quality medical care.
“Many of the men in the Qatif area work for Saudi Aramco, SCECO, Saudi Arabian Airlines and other large firms. They are covered by health insurance, but to avail themselves of private hospital facilities these men and their families must travel to Dammam or Alkhobar,” explained Al-Zamil. “Our plan to open GSH in Qatif was met with enthusiastic approval by the Ministry of Health. We are pleased with our decision to invest our capital in an area where it will do significant good within the Kingdom.”
Eastern Medical Services Company, a firm set up by Al-Zamil, has already invested SR150 million in GSH and the Qatif area. Al-Zamil stated that they are willing to bring in additional capital as appropriate opportunities are identified. Sufyan Al-Zamil, who will be serving as GSH director general, outlined some of the initial plans for the hospital.
“We surveyed the region’s medical staff and senior representatives from the community and identified specific health care needs which GSH will target,” he said. “While GSH will have all the departments of a general hospital, initially, treatment for genetic blood abnormalities, renal failure, infertility, oncology and inflammatory eye diseases will receive special attention. In the future, new specialist clinics will be opened as we see a demand. We hope that our specialist clinics become resources for the entire Eastern Province.”
Unlike several other hospitals in the Eastern Region, the GSH facility was purpose-built, not converted from another use. A tour of GSH proved that the medical center is well-designed, decorated with style, and furnished with state-of-the-art equipment brought from around the world. For example, the radiology department features digital equipment that produces images, which can be either stored on site or sent over the Internet to a consulting physician. The hospital’s laboratories can handle 95 percent of all required analyses. Unusual lab tests will be done using the services of Germany’s Bioscientia Laboratories. Information technology implemented throughout GSH will enable data collection, data analyses, auditing and planning.
GSH will have 110 beds upon opening plus additional patient facilities covering obstetrics, intensive care, neonatal intensive care and the nursery. The hospital has a total of eight operating theaters, with one directly off the Emergency Department to handle trauma cases and another as a part of the obstetrics unit. The GSH surgical facilities stack up very favorably against the national ratio for Saudi hospitals, which is one operating room for every 50 beds. Special attention is being given to female patients at GSH. For their comfort, the female ward is on the same floor as the specialty units such as the operating theaters, intensive care and the obstetrics suites. Tight security, including video cameras and automatically locking doors, will ensure the safety of newborns and their mothers.
GSH plans to start patient admissions in the first week of February. At that time total staff will number about 250, of whom 35-40 percent will be Saudi.
“We have hired staff from around the world. It has been a challenging, time consuming effort to choose the right people,” said Dr. Fouad F. Slim, GSH Medical Director. “Hiring excellent nurses has been especially difficult as there is a shortage globally. For example, in the Philippines, American recruiters are now offering experienced general duty nurses $18-$25 per hour. We have been fortunate that within the Qatif area there is a long tradition of the locals being willing to do any sort of honest work. Thus, many GSH Saudi staff members are from the nearby community. We will have Saudis working in almost all the supporting departments including dietary, laboratory, reception, and even perhaps housekeeping, as well as Saudi medical professionals with university degrees.”
“We are especially pleased to have already attracted 20 nursing assistants from the Qatif area,” continued Faten Taha, GSH Directress of Nursing. “These nursing assistants have been trained at local institutes and we believe they will be quite valuable in ensuring the best comfort and care for our Saudi patients.”
Taha pointed out that the skills of the Saudi nursing assistants will be particularly essential in the care of infants and children. GSH will have a day surgery unit allowing children having minor surgical procedures to avoid an overnight hospital stay. For those with more serious needs, the GSH pediatric unit has been set up with a playroom, cartoon shows, and decorations to delight children of all ages. Mothers will be encouraged to stay with their sick children. Nurses will wear special colorful outfits and physicians have been requested to leave their white coats elsewhere when attending to pediatric patients.
“We must bring in the best medical practices from around the world,” explained Dr. Slim. “Our medical library, online resources and continuing education programs will help us stay up to date. We plan to not only treat but also educate our patients, to help them stay healthier. We have employed both a health educator and specially trained nurses, to act as resources for patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes.”
“I also want to emphasize that we are going about the operation of GSH in a very systematic manner,” Dr. Slim added. “Our standards, policies and procedures are based on recommendations from the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Health Organizations, which certifies and monitors medical facilities in the United States. These standards are the highest in the world. They focus on the organization and leadership of the hospital. They have a concentration on standards for patient assessment and patient care. There are also requirements for the environment of care. By emphasizing the Joint Commission standards we will provide a level of care higher than what is required under our license from the Ministry of Health. GSH will have a team dedicated to maintaining quality assurance in our services and staff performance.”
GSH is a beautiful medical facility and it will be a boon to the Qatif area. As I prepared to leave, Zamil Al-Zamil made one final remark.
“Such an effort with standards, policies and procedures sounds expensive and complex, doesn’t it?” he asked. “However, as the CEO of Gulf Specialist Hospital, I am not simply managing a hospital. Rather, I am making a commitment to build a strong foundation for a community resource, which will, in the end, ensure the delivery of excellent health care and future profitability.”
Arab News Features 3 January 2003
