Muscat Nov 27 - The Medical City project in the Sultanate will be completed by 2021, which will help the government save costs and emerge as a hub for medical research and development.
Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, said the Medical City, spread over an area of five million sqm in Barka, will comprise specialty hospitals with 1,200 beds.
The expansion and easy accessibility of health services are one of the priorities of the government under its ‘Health Vision 2050’, which has led to the establishment of the Medical City, he said.
On completion, it will ensure availability of quality healthcare services to most people in the country, said the minister.
“The Medical City is a first step in the direction of developing a hub for medical tourism,” he said.
It will facilitate education and training within the country, thereby cutting down on the expenditure incurred on educating students abroad.
The Medical City will accommodate several existing sub-specialties in addition to the new services that will be offered at the premises.
Al Saidi said it will help improve the level of training and Continuing Medical Education (CME) for healthcare professionals. It will also promote the scope for clinical research in priority areas.
It will provide specialised medical care as well as infrastructure for training, research and studies.
It will offer specialised medical consultations.
Al Saidi said there were 1,124 private institutions at the end of 2016, including 19 hospitals, 310 specialised clinics, 251 dental clinics, 48 Chinese medicine clinics and 27 medical laboratories and seven diagnosis centres.
There were 11,634 employees, of which 2,134 were physicians, 44 per cent of them specialists, 868 dentists, 1,798 pharmacists and 3,515 physicians.
The ministry grants licenses to the healthcare workers following a process of written and oral tests to ensure their eligibility.
The Ministry of Health’s (MoH) expenditure amounted to RO 792.96 million in 2016, of which RO 757.96 million was for operational purposes and RO 35 million for development expenditure.
The percentage of Omani doctors in the MoH is 33 per cent as against nine in 1990. Of this, 74 per cent are dentists and 87 per cent pharmacists.
There were 19.5 doctors for a population of 10,000 in 2016 as against nine in 1990. The number of nurses increased from 26 in 1990 to 44.8 in the same period.
Meanwhile, the ministry has embarked on three expansion projects for the Royal Hospital (RH) as well as Suhar and
Nizwa hospitals at a cost of RO 40 million.
The expansions include constructing buildings, providing new medical equipment and increasing the number of beds in different specialisations.
A total of 553 beds will be added at these hospitals, 56 of which in the Royal Hospital’s departments — Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, radiology, operation theatres,
etc.
Suhar hospital will get 268 new beds distributed among the coronary care unit, post-coronary care unit, intensive care units for adults and children, daycare, hemodialysis sections and cardiac surgery ward.
Besides, it will get a new burns unit and new car parking.
Nizwa hospital will get 229 beds in the Adults Intensive Care Unit, SCBU, Pediatric Critical Care Unit, coronary care unit, obstetrics/ surgical units, and accident & emergency care units.
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