Airline passengers will enjoy enhanced medical services at the new Hamad International Airport (HIA) with the opening of two new Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Emergency Centers.
Operated by HMC, the new centers, which opened on 27 May 2014 will operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Staffed by a dedicated multidisciplinary team of medical professionals, the opening of the new centers coincides with the closure of the clinics at Doha International Airport (DIA). Chairman of ED Operations at HMC, Professor Peter Cameron, said:
The purpose-built Emergency Centers are a prime example of HMC’s dedication to delivering effective community support and engagement. They will provide travelers and other visitors with both urgent medical treatment and curative and preventive care, delivered by our expert team of healthcare professionals…we are proud to have been asked to provide an extended range of emergency and medical care services at the Hamad International Airport and effectively support all who use this new world-class facility.’
HMC is the principal public healthcare provider in Qatar for over three decades and is dedicated to delivering the safest, most effective and compassionate care to all patients. The hospital manages eight hospitals, incorporating five specialist hospitals and three community hospitals. HMC also manages the National Ambulance Service as well as home and residential care, all accredited by Joint Commission International. The hospital is the first hospital system in the Middle East to achieve institutional accreditation from the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education – International (ACGME-I), which demonstrates excellence in the way medical graduates are trained through residency, internship and fellowship programmes.
The Emergency Centers located in the arrival and departure concourses at HIA are the newest addition to ongoing enhancements HMC is undertaking at various facilities to ensure the public is provided with the safest, most effective and compassionate care. Vice Chairman of ED Operations and the accountable medical officer for the project, Dr Yogdutt Sharma, said:
A comprehensive Ambulance Service provided around the terminal will respond rapidly to any emergencies on the runway both airside and landside. A robust paramedic system that utilizes bikes, segways and golf carts, will also operate within the terminal. Further service expansions are planned in the coming years.’
HMC operated the emergency care service at Doha International Airport for more than a decade.
Last year, over 9,000 airline passengers, and other members of the public, were treated at HMC’s airport clinics. Along with the main Emergency Department at Hamad General Hospital, HMC operates satellite emergency departments at Al Wakra, Al Khor and the Cuban Hospitals and 13 adult as well as pediatric emergency walk-in clinics spread across the country.
