Slated for opening early next year, Al Wakra Hospital will be Qatar’s largest and most modern healthcare facility.
Its size is equivalent to the Hamad General Hospital, Women’s Hospital and Rumailah Hospital put together, officials supervising the construction of the mega medical complex said yesterday.
The upcoming hospital, which will be the newest arm of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), will introduce state-of-the-art technology and diagnostic services.
“This is the biggest hospital in Qatar,” said Jamal Azami, Assistant Project Manager of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal).
The hospital building is spread over 128,000 square metres within the 304,000 square-metre premises, he said.
The hospital will introduce ‘pneumatic tube technology’ to the country while providing all facilities needed for advanced medical care of nationals as well as expatriates.
Pneumatic tubes are systems in which cylindrical containers are propelled through a network to speed up sending and receiving of documents and specimens. The pneumatic tubes at Al Wakra Hospital will be a computer-controlled system to deliver documents and specimens to and from laboratories and nurses’ stations.
The hospital will have 54 pneumatic tubes and its advanced laboratory with eight main sections will be networked through this system.
“This is the first time pneumatic tubes are being introduced in a hospital in Qatar,” said Azami.
The hospital has separate buildings for women’s healthcare and emergency, operation theatres and intensive care units. Each of the three main hospital buildings has six floors.
The hospital has 321 beds for inpatients and its parking lot has space for 1,000 cars. There are eight gates for entry into the hospital premises.
The hospital project is being executed for HMC by Ashghal along with supply contractors.
The project has been completed in 39 months — five months before the scheduled completion date — and at least QR1bn has been spent on the mega project.
The external beautification work is going on and Ashghal will hand over the hospital complex to HMC next month.
“The handing over process has begun. We are handing over the hospital section by section. The complete handover will be by the end of this month,” said Azami.
The handing over process began on September 18. Certain sections such as the radiology department and emergency rooms have already been handed over to HMC.
“The dusky white and marine blue paint was selected for the exterior to complement the nature of the beach-side city. And each building has been given a different colour for the patients and visitors to identify the area easily,” said Alaudeen Ghanem, Consultant Manager, GHD, the supply contractor for interior and exterior designing of the hospital.
The emergency rooms in the trauma section have seven vertical pendants with all the facilities patients would require. The section also has specially designed ceilings with sceneries of a blue sky and palm trees to create a pleasant atmosphere and give a psychological boost to the patients.
All bed head units of the hospital are equipped with advanced facilities, data systems, a nurse call system and a power system. These systems have been provided in all 32 patient rooms on each floor of the north and south wings of the hospital. The three hospital buildings have a total of 26 elevators.
The sixth floor of the hospital is reserved for VIP patients; however, it will have no special facilities apart from those on the other floors.
Ashghal has advanced the road project adjoining the hospital by three years since the hospital is slated to open early next year.
THE PENINSULA