Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health visited Hamad General Hospital’s Surgical Speciality Center (SSC) as the facility discharged its last COVID-19 patients and prepared to return to normal operations.

The SSC is one of seven HMC facilities that has been designated as a COVID-19 facility throughout the second wave of the virus, alongside Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital, Communicable Disease Center, The Cuban Hospital, Ras Laffan Hospital, Mesaieed Hospital and Al Wakra Hospital.

Commenting on the important role the SSC has played in recent months, H.E. Dr. Al Kuwari said: “The designation of the Surgical Specialty Center as a COVID-19 facility has been an important element of our strategy that has enabled us to significantly expand hospital capacity throughout this second wave. With the new variants from the UK and South Africa causing more severe symptoms than the original strain last year, at the peak of the second wave more people required hospital admission than during the first wave. Despite this increased demand for hospital care, I am incredibly proud of the efforts of all our healthcare staff for their hard work and commitment which has meant that every patient requiring treatment for COVID-19 has been able to access the care they require without delay.”

“With the number of new daily COVID-19 cases continuing to fall in recent weeks, there are now significantly fewer patients in need of hospital care and we can gradually begin to return some of the COVID-19 facilities to their normal operations. However, our fight against COVID-19 is not yet over and it is important that people continue to follow the preventive measures and get vaccinated when their turn comes,” added H.E. Dr. Al Kuwari.

During her visit to the SCC, the Minister of Public Health met with Mr. Hamad Al Mahmoud and Mr. Habeeb Amjad, two recovered COVID-19 patients who had been admitted to the Center due to the severity of their symptoms. The patients both expressed their thanks and appreciation to all the staff at the SCC for the high-quality care they received.

H.E. Dr. Al Kuwari also met with staff from the SSC, including doctors, nurses and support staff to hear about their experience of working in the Center throughout the pandemic. The Minister presented a plaque of appreciation to staff as a formal mark of thanks to all the doctors, nurses and support staff at the Center for their commitment and hard work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

HMC’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Abdulla Al Ansari, explained how staff have worked to ensure COVID-19 patients have received the very highest standards of care. “Since being designated as a COVID-19 facility at the end of March, more than 600 staff have been working around the clock to provide expert medical care to patients. Providing treatment to patients with COVID-19 requires extraordinary teamwork and involves staff from a wide range of roles to all play their part.”

“Over the past six weeks, we have treated 709 patients with COVID-19 in the Surgical Specialty Center – with 337 acute admissions and 372 admissions to ICU. This has required the combined efforts of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, infection control teams, housekeeping, information technology, engineering, therapists, logistics, human resources and administrative staff to name just a few. I am truly honored to call these dedicated staff my colleagues; they are all healthcare heroes,” said Dr. Al Ansari.