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Health should be about care not about cash - that is the message coming from one Bahrain hospital which aims to make its services affordable even for those with lower incomes.
Al Hilal Hospital is a 50-bed multi-specialty unit located in Muharraq close to the major highways and airport making it easily accessible for patients coming from any area.
The hospital provides specialised out-patient as well as in-patient care including emergency, medical, surgical, obstetrics, paediatrics, dental and critical care facilities. Its services are supported by the finest diagnostic and outpatient treatment services using the latest technology.
And its mission is to restore, maintain and enhance health by providing superior care for now and into the future.
Dr Sai Giridhar, CEO of Al Hilal Hospital, said: "Hospitals are a necessity; not a marketing service or a commodity. Being a part of this medical sector business, Al Hilal is always interested to know what the patient wants.
"Looking at the Bahrain situation there are people of different social strata, different nationalities and comfort zones. Many expatriate employees are earning salaries in the lower bracket, but once converted into their own currency they have a good income. For them to spend on health here in dinars it is difficult.
"Going by that, this hospital is designed to fill that gap because when it comes to your health, you cannot wait. If you are sick today then you need care today and finances should not get in the way of that.
"With great effort we have tried to bring down the prices so that even those with a normal salary between BD200-400 can spend on themselves.
"However our target is not only expats as there are also groups of Bahrainis and middle income workers looking for excellent care at affordable prices. This depicts the whole policy and strategy that the hospital has to offer."
And speaking of his vision of free health care for all Dr Giridhar added: "People ask why service charges are different for different hospitals? First of all I believe that health care and education should be given free of cost. That is the right of every citizen.
"So the fact that we are working on now is how efficiently we can use our materials, cut costs and see that we can provide maximum service to all the people that want our services. We are not a charity but we are working on volumes."
The hospital is equipped with a state-of-the-art accident and emergency wing providing 24-hour service, six-bed centrally monitored ICU, two operating theatres with eight-bed male and female post-operative recovery rooms, a fully-fledged labour theatre with recovery beds and baby care unit, a minor operations theatre and modernised X-ray and ultrasound (4D) facilites plus a 24-hour laboratory and pharmacy.
The hospital is equipped to carry out internal medicine, general and laparoscopic surgery, ENT, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, urology, general medicine, dentistry, orthodontics and physiotherapy.
There are also a number of packages available including health screening, executive, diabetic, heart, women's health and pre-employment checks.
For further information, contact Al Hilal Hospital on 17344199.
