Al-Madina newspaper

THE specialist hospital and research center in Jeddah extends advanced healthcare services to thousands of patients in the western and southern regions of Saudi Arabia with a high level of efficacy and efficiency.

As a patient who visits the hospital regularly, I am very proud of the care and attention I receive from the staff there despite the large number of patients and the limited facilities available compared to some of the specialist hospitals and research centers in developed countries.

The hospital has had several medical achievements to its credit and has won several awards, including for administrative and medical quality control.

The most important successes in the medical field achieved by the hospital include 73 epilepsy operations conducted in 2017, which led to quantum leap in the quality of life for the patients. There was a 34 percent increase in the number of bone marrow transplantations at the hospital compared to 2016. There have been 220 successful kidney transplants in 2017, in addition to several other accomplishments that cannot be listed in one article.

However, the hospital currently faces quite an embarrassing situation because its capabilities are not up to the required standard. To say the least, the hospital’s current building cannot accommodate a steady increase in the number of patients seeking operations and transplantations.

The number of outpatients has also increased, reaching 316,730 at the end of 2016.

At the same time, the number of beds in the hospital does not exceed 500 while the number of dialysis units is only five. The capacity for bone marrow transplantations is very limited even though it is the only center that conducts such operations in the region. The case of liver, kidney, heart and vascular surgeries is not different either.

Despite all the medical and administrative achievements, the current capacity of the hospital does not allow it to expand further and extend services to the increasing numbers of patients, who cannot find treatment for their chronic conditions except in this specialist hospital.

King Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him, ordered the expansion of the hospital in 2015, and it was supposed to be completed in 2017, but the work faltered almost a year ago.

I appeal to the minister of health to put in extra efforts to complete the expansion project for the benefit of thousands of patients who suffer from chronic illnesses and critical conditions that require advanced medical care but cannot find a vacant bed in the hospital.