Three private hospitals to come up on government land

The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) has recently announced a public tender for the private sector to build and operate three private hospitals on government-owned land. The tender was issued in accordance with the decision of the Ministerial Group for the Encouragement and Participation of the Private Sector in the Economic Development Projects. An official source told local Arabic daily Arrayah that the capital that would be invested in these hospitals would amount to QR1bn. The total space of land allocated to the three hospitals comes to 137,904 sqm with a capacity of 310 beds.The source estimated that the number of patients who would visit the three hospitals, at the inpatient and outpatient clinics together, would be around 60,000 a year. The new healthcare facilities would considerably enhance the quality of the health services in the country, and it is considered a major step to support investment in the health sector.Meanwhile, a number of entrepreneurs have affirmed that allocating plots of land for the project was a proper step towards the expansion of investment in the health and medical sector and it provided investors with adequate incentives to launch such projects. Khalid al-Emadi, Executive Director of Al Ahli Hospital, pointed out that the move constituted a real partnership between both the private and the public sector, as the private health sector in Qatar needed further incentives and support as was the case with other business fields to grow and expand. However, he called for stability in the required standards, pointing out that frequent changes would burden investors with unnecessary extra cost, which might have not been planned when the project was first adopted.Dr Othman Ramadan, Director of Doha Clinic Hospital, praised the move but asked for more flexibility in processing the necessary procedures to issue the required licenses and documents.Adbularhman al-Emadi, CEO of Al Emadi Hospital, asked that the private health sector should be more involved in the decision-making process by MoPH which would ultimately benefit the sector in the country.Neither the locations nor the dates for the completion of the project were disclosed.