Qatar - Each year, an increasing number of patients from around the world travel to Sidra Medicine to receive medical care from world-renowned doctors.

The number of patients increase due to the well-established reputation of the hospital and excellent outcomes, said Chief Medical Officer and Director of the International Office at Sidra Medicine, Professor Ziyad M Hijazi.

“Sidra Medicine has curated a team of international healthcare experts, some of whom are considered pioneers and rank among the best in their fields worldwide. Several of our services and programmes are benchmarked against some of the top hospitals in the world. We have changed the specialist healthcare services landscape for patients in Qatar and beyond,” Prof Hijazi told The Peninsula.

“We have had patients from the GCC and MENA region as well as patients from Europe, the United States, and Asia; a large percentage of international patients were from Kuwait. We recently received two patients from Russia,” Prof. Hijazi said.

He said that initially when Sidra Medicine opened, around 50 to 60 international patients were seen annually. In 2022 some 122 international patients were treated; an increase of 35% compared to 90 patients seen in 2021.

“This year we have seen a major increase in the number of international patients and have received 140 until the end of March,” said Prof Hijazi.

“We accept a range of mostly pediatric patients with various conditions. The majority of them were treated for cardiology-related conditions at the Heart Centre, which is a comprehensive programme that delivers the best outcomes and safe quality care to both children and adults with congenital heart defects,” he said.

Sidra Medicine cares for patients across several specialties, such as cardiology, general paediatrics, urology, neurosciences, endocrinology, ENT, orthopaedic surgery, gastroenterology, plastic/craniofacial surgery, and OB/GYN cases too. Clinical care is supported by a strong research branch using precision medicine to diagnose and treat rare diseases.

According to Prof Hijazi mothers with high-risk pregnancies and couples who seek IVF services are also among the international patients.

“We offer treatment and care for high-risk pregnancies; we treat impairments with fetal health. Also, when a fetus is diagnosed with complex congenital conditions, the mother travels here to deliver the baby, so we can start treating the baby as soon as it is born,” he said.

“From the first interaction of the patient with our medical staff until the time they return home, our team will be with you every step of the way,” he said.

International Patient Services offers comprehensive services including: appointments and scheduling, medical records and treatment plan coordination, hospital admission process, cost of care estimates and financial counseling, access to health records on the patient portal, pharmacy refills for post-care in the home country, air ambulances services, travel advice: visas, flights, airport to hospital transfers and car rental arrangements, long-term and short-term accommodation reservations, language interpreters and medical interpretation in 11 languages, childcare services, leisure, tourism, shopping, and entertainment.

“Some of the international patients having difficulty getting pregnant seek IVF services; our IVF and fertility experts will provide individually optimized care to families for both women and men. We offer one-stop services with on-site IVF, reproductive surgery, maternal-fetal medicine, obstetrics, and gynecology, all in a single convenient location,” he added. The International Patient Services team helps patients, and their families navigate care and logistics with Sidra Medicine, guiding them through the medical care experience, step by step. “We understand the stress associated with illness and we understand the challenges when the treatment is sought outside of one’s home country. We are committed to making a family’s experience with us easy and comfortable,” said Prof Hijazi.

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