Minister of Public Health visits two Hamad Medical Corporation hospitals

Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public health, visited two Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) hospitals and met with senior officials leading the delivery of coronavirus (COVID-19) services.

H.E. Dr. Al Kuwari was accompanied by Dr. Muna Al Maslamani, Medical Director of the Communicable Disease Center (CDC) on her visit to specialist infectious disease hospital.

The Minister was briefed on the Center’s ongoing treatment of patients with COVID-19 and met with infection control teams to discuss patient care protocols specifically designed to manage COVID-19 patients and their symptoms.

H.E Dr. Al Kuwari also inspected the new clinic at the CDC that has been established to collect blood plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19. This advanced service enables plasma to be collected from the recovered patients and then transfused into a COVID-19 positive patient currently undergoing treatment

The antibodies built up in the recovered patient’s plasma can help patients undergoing treatment to strengthen their resistance to the virus. During the visit to the new clinic, the Minister met with a recovered patient who donated his plasma and discussed his experience with him.

Following her visit to the CDC, H.E Dr. Al Kuwari moved on to the Qatar Rehabilitation Institute (QRI), where she inspected two key services being led by Dr. Hanadi Al Hamad, Medical Director of Rumailah Hospital and the QRI.

The Minister first visited one of the hospital’s inpatient gyms to observe an exercise class being run for a small number of elderly inpatients. These classes are being run regularly to ensure patients are kept active during this challenging time.

H.E Dr. Al Kuwari then joined Dr. Al Hamad to take part in one of the Department of Geriatric’s regular telemedicine consultations. This new service has been launched to enable elderly patients to receive consultations in the comfort of their own home, without the need to come into the hospital.

For the final visit of the day, H.E Dr. Al Kuwari joined the daily meeting of the System-Wide Incident Command Committee, chaired by Dr. Saad Al Kaabi, to discuss the latest COVID-19 updates and plan the ongoing healthcare response.

For any queries, or concerns related to COVID-19 in Qatar, the public can contact a 24/7 hotline set up by the Ministry. The hotline number is 16000 and is toll-free.

Here’s everything you need to know about the virus, including ways to protect yourself.

Source: Qatar Living