Doha: Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) new state-of-the-art Women’s Wellness and Research Center (WWRC) has marked its first anniversary of transitioning services from Women’s Hospital and nearly 17,000 babies were born in the first year, said a senior official yesterday.
The WWRC has also obtained a reaccreditation by the Joint Commission International (JCI), a US-based accreditation body that recognises healthcare organisations that demonstrate a commitment to providing the highest standard of patient care, said Dr Hilal Al Rifai, Medical Director, WWRC.
“We had very successful and careful transition of our care services for women and babies from the Women’s Hospital to the WWRC. It is through their collective efforts that we have achieved so many important milestones during the past year. It is their dedication and teamwork that has made both the move to our new hospital and the JCI reaccreditation possible,” he added addressing a press conference yesterday.
HMC began a phased opening of WWRC in 2017 and transitioning services from the Women’s Hospital to the new facility.
Dr Hilal Al Rifai (fourth left), Medical Director of Women’s Wellness and Research Centre at HMC, with other officials addressing the media at the Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical City in Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot /The Peninsula
The transition begun with opening of the outpatient Urogynecology Clinic in late 2017, different clinical and surgical services were transitioned to the new hospital with the full shift in services culminating with the delicate process of safely transporting over 100 babies from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Women’s Hospital to the new WWRC NICU in May 2018.
According to Al Rifai, nearly 17,000 babies were born at WWRC in the first year. And it is expected to increase by 20 % increase in the second year. WWRC has recorded thousands of patient visits at outpatient and emergency departments. Also more than 160,000 patients were treated at the Emergency Department of WWRC.
“We have celebrated a number of firsts, including members of our staff assisting with the successful separation of conjoined twins born at our hospital. In the last year, over 20 new clinics and services have been introduced at WWRC all aimed at boosting the quality of care we provide to patients. Additionally, over 160 new staff joined our team of more than 2,000 highly trained clinicians,” said Dr Al Rifai.
In reply to a quire Dr Al Rifai, also clarified the criteria for cases to dealt at the at WWRC and Sidra Medicine. He said that mothers at high risk of pregnancy will deliver at WWRC and if the child has complications they will deliver at Sidra Medicine.
“WWRC and Sidra Medicine we complement each other. We choose the best suitable hospital for the patient, according to their condition. The best sample is the case of congenital twins who were born at WWRC and transferred to Sidra Medicine for the separation surgery,” he added.
WWRC is the largest women’s tertiary hospital in Qatar and in the region. WWRC is also home to the region’s largest Neonatal Intensive Care Unit which extends across two floors and is able to care for over 100 high-risk or critically ill newborns. WWRC has 240 private inpatient rooms, seven operating theaters, and 26 delivery rooms.
