Monday, September 07, 2015
A multi-specialty 100-bed hospital worth OMR15 million, built by Lifeline Hospitals, a VPS Group unit, will be opened by the end of this year, the top official of the group said.
“As part of our expansion plans, the new multi-specialty hospital will open by the end of this year in Al Khuwair, Muscat. It will cater to patients from all segments and will have all kinds of modern treatment facilities,” Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, managing director of the VPS group, told the Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.
The new hospital to be opened in Al Khuwair will be the third Lifeline hospital in Oman. The group already operates one each in Salalah and Sohar.
“Our market study reveals that Oman will be needing more healthcare facilities in the coming days. By bringing specialist treatment to Oman, we are confident that we will be able to fill the demand gap,” Shamseer added.
“We are aware that, unfortunately, patients are forced to wait in hospitals for their turn to receive specialized treatment. Entry of new hospitals can ease the situation,” Shamseer added.
At present, the VPS group has 14 hospitals in the region with 7,500 employees and 650 medics, and are ready to open the new ones in Qatar, Kuwait and in West London in the coming years.
“Our hospital will be having plans to cover patients from all sectors. We are planning to have health management organisation (HMO) schemes so that low-paid workers will also get quality treatment at affordable cost,” Shamseer said while adding that there is still more room to improve the insurance-medical sector relations.
“Majority of the issues will be resolved as the mandatory insurance schemes are activated,” Shamseer added.
In a move to improve the health sector, the government had set aside OMR1.6 billion for the health sector, amounting to 11.3 per cent of the total government expenditure.
This is for setting up 11 hospitals and primary health centres across the country.
timesofoman.com
