Hamad Medical's yearly report points to major hospital growth in Qatar

Qatar’s top nonprofit healthcare provider, the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), released its yearly report last week, highlighting major growth across the company’s care sectors and expansion of services to better serve patients; HMC runs eight hospitals in the Gulf nation and is responsible for the National Ambulance Service as well as home and residential care.

The report says the company’s outpatient and emergency departments, ambulance service and pediatric emergency centers have all seen increased activity. HMC clinical teams delivered treatment two and a half million times last year, while more babies were delivered in the company’s maternity wards than ever before.

Much of the growth in services rendered has been in HMC’s three community hospitals in Al Wakra, Dukhan and Al Khor. Those hospitals saw a 54 percent increase in births since 2013.

That means patients in those regions have better access to full secondary healthcare services close to home, eliminating the need to travel to Doha for hospital care.

"In the past year we have continued to build on our recent innovation and progress in line with our three pillars of health, education and research,” HMC Managing Director Hanan Al Kuwari said. “We have introduced many new services and facilities as we expand to meet the increasing demands of Qatar's growing population.”

That doesn’t mean the job is done for HMC, though. Al Kuwari said the company has a great deal of work to do to improve services in the future.

“We will not rest as there is still more work to be done,” Al Kuwari said. “We look forward with energy and enthusiasm to providing each and every one of our patients with the safest, most effective and most compassionate care in the years ahead."