Wednesday 15 / May / 2024
Muscat: Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sa’eedi, Minister of Health on Sunday opened the Oman Medical Association (OMA) Temporary Hospital for COVID-19 treatment in Al Amerat in the Governorate of Muscat.
The hospital marks one of the efforts and initiatives lunched by the OMA to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 Pandemic.
In recognition of its social and humanitarian responsibility amid the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the OMA administration developed an action plan to contribute to educational awareness programmes for the community, in addition to an action plan to support health institutions by providing some medical equipment and personal protective equipment for the health workers.
The board also decided to contribute in preparing a field hospital or reserving a hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Accordingly, OMA launched Mu'afa Initiative (Together for Oman) with the approval of the Ministry of Social Development and in coordination with the Ministry of Health.
From the very outset, approximately 40 health volunteers, mostly Omani cadres, volunteered. After two weeks, the number of volunteers reached 100. Planning began for preparing a field hospital, field maps, and a secondary plan was readied to proceed ahead if necessary.
Thus, Adlife hospital, which was under the final procedures to be set as a public hospital, was agreed upon to reserve it by OMA for the treatment of the COVID-19 cases and took the name of the Temporary OMA Hospital under the initiative of Mu'afa.
The hospital has 64 beds, of which four are for the intensive care unit. The hospital is receiving the confirmed cases with mild to moderate symptoms to be admitted in the hospital according to the international guidelines and protocols.
Dr. Waleed Khalid Al Zedjali, President of Oman Medical Association (OMA), said, "A technical team has been formed in cooperation with some of MOH’s health institutions to prepare all departments and corridors of the hospital to receive the cases of COVID-19 taking into account the protection of all health and administrative personnel, as well as the patients, in addition to developing regulations that apply all laws and regulations of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health for the treatment of these cases.
"The hospital also contains all the supportive departments for the treatment and follow-up of COVID-19 such as emergency departments, intensive care, laboratories and sterilisation sites. The work was divided into administrative and professional medical, financial and marketing teams to communicate with the supporters of this initiative where it received response from some institutions and companies which contributed to the provision of some medical supplies and devices and medicines along with providing diagnosis and treatment devices for the patients".
Dr. Al Zedjali expressed his gratitude to the Omani cadres who are doing their best in professional volunteering work in Oman, being at the frontline to counter this pandemic.
The OMA President added that the hospital is the first voluntary hospital for the treatment of epidemics in the region under the full management of Omani staff. It is a great challenge, especially in the medical profession, which requires accuracy, thoroughness, responsibility and dedication by strictly fulfilling all the medical guidelines and protocols.
Dr. Waleed Al Zedjali stated that several medical professional teams have been formed including a specialised team of nurses to develop and divide the hospital's medical assistance staff in accordance with international protocols, in addition to quality assurance and patient safety team, as well as an infection control team in cooperation with the Directorate General of Private Health Establishments and Al Nahdha Hospital, as well as a medical follow-up team led by a doctor from the OMA, and volunteers from all medical and medical assistance staff, in addition to a team to support the administrative, financial, facilities and catering aspects."
