Al-Jumhuria Hospital’s General Manager to Yemen Times: “We should receive foreign doctors and be in immediate contact with them to gain experience” [Archives:1999/27/Health]
July 5 1999
Name: Dr. Abdullah Alhamedi
Job: Manager of Al-Jumhuria Hospital
The Hospital’s Situation
The hospital consists of seven floors and various departments; there is an emergency department, another one for women and we are constructing an exterior emergency department. Unfortunately, we can not open it, mainly due to our limited resources. There are also departments for other surgeries as well, for example brain and nerve surgery, nose, ear and throat surgery, eye surgery, intensive care, cosmetology, children surgery and dermatology. This is on the basis of the general departments. However, regarding the hospital activity, the hospital receives hundreds of sick people every day in the morning shift. We also perform around 25 or 30 operations Ð sometimes more and sometimes less. In respect to the doctors, we have professional doctors with different specializations.
We have also recently started asking for teachers from the university, since this is an educational hospital.
Recent Improvements
Any person who knew the hospital before 1997 can see these quickly. We are proud that we have done reconditioning on the ground and top floors. We have also opened sections on the seventh floor. All departments are very crowded, at least double what they used to be. The number of patients increased significantly from 97-99. The emergency section was very small, but now runs 24 hours a day, and receives many patients. The number of the operations made has also increased by four times, it is now around 600 to 700 operations a year. However, this does not mean that we have reached the top, but we will try to do the best we could do.
Q: What are the difficulties you face as the manager?
A: We really face some difficulties from some of the doctors. They don’t follow the rules and are always creating problems. I am sorry to say this, but it is a reality. The main reason for this is that there is no accountability and punishment. As a result, we find that such doctors behave in bad ways.
Q: Do you get enough support from the Ministry of health?
A: Despite its limited resources, the Ministry of Health is doing its best and is helping according to its abilities-this is not enough though.
Q: What are the newly opened sections in the hospital?
A: The seventh floor is now open, as I mentioned previously. We have also repaired and reconditioned old sections. We plan to enlarge the emergency and laboratory section. We are also going to open the National Center for the Handicapped on Sunday.
Q: What is the budget of the hospital?
A: It was 10 million rials per month in 97, but it has now reached 40 million rials per month.
Q: How much is people’s annual support?
A: We made statistics but we could not say the exact number for certain, because sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down.
We spend this money on buying things for the hospital, and the rest is saved.
Dr. Ahmad Ali Alanisi
Q: How do you find your situation here as a doctor?
A: I have spent a long period as a doctor, around 24 years, but most of it was in Taiz. When I was transferred to Sanaa, I found that the administration has been working in leaps and bounds to improve things in the hospital, not only this but the doctors’ income has also increase as well. As a mater of fact, the General Manager has been quite instrumental in creating the good atmosphere for hard work and sincerity. He has been open to suggestions that will help in the development of the work. I really appreciate the sincerity and dedication of the administration, and its understanding.
Q: How do you find the hospital’s present situation different from the past?
A: Al-Jumhuria Hospital has been improved and developed a lot, this is something that can not be denied.
Q: Are the changes enough to render good service to the people?
A: As I mentioned previously, things have improved a lot. It is obvious that this is not enough, but it is a good sign of progress.
Q: Do you think the hospital is in need of foreign doctors?
A: It is true that there are excellent Yemeni doctors, but it is also a fact that we are far behind the up-to-date medical processes, so I think that it is highly important that we receive foreign doctors to gain experience and improve our performance.
Q: Is there a special section for those who are burned?
A: There is no section for that, but there is a special clinic that deals with such cases.
Nema Alzobairee, a nurse
Q: How do you find the treatment towards women in the hospital?
A: The treatment is very good. All the staff are cooperative and do their best.
Q: Are there more Yemeni or foreign women?
A: There are Yemeni as well as foreign women employees, but Yemeni women are more.
Q: Do you think that there is a special need for foreign women employees in the hospital?
A: I think Yemeni women employees are qualified enough, so there is no need for foreigners.
Q: How do you find things after the new changes?
A: Change is always possible, but we don’t face any problems and are happy with our jobs.
By: Ahlam Al-Khawlani,
Yemen Times
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