The Chairman of Syrian-Qatari Holding (SQH), Mr. Nasser Hassan Al-Ansari, signed the definitive Shareholder Agreement for the co-development of Syria’s first world-class Medical City with a group of highly skilled US-based Syrian physicians acting within the framework of the Syrian-American Medical Center (SAMC), and represented by Dr. Ammar Hemaidan (General Manager of SAMC), and Dr. Akram Kholoki (Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of SAMC). The Medical City integrates a 200-bed hospital and several specialty medical centers as well as medical offices. This agreement follows up on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by SQH and SAMC in May 2009, which had defined the framework to carry out the necessary feasibility studies of the project and to draw the final outlines of the future medical center.
Location, project components, medical specialties
The Medical City will be located in Damascus, in the West Mazzeh area. The site is within close proximity to the Mazzeh highway, and within easy reach of Damascus center and rural Damascus. It will be built on a land area of 10,000 sq.m. The plans of the medical complex call for a total built-up area of 64,000 sq.m, of which 26,000 sq.m. will be allocated to the 200-bed general hospital facility. The remaining of the built-up area will host a parking garage and a large office component to house different specialty clinics and other medical related trades and businesses.
The Hospital component itself will include several centers of excellence including heart, pulmonary disease, and gastroenterology centers, a gynecology / obstetrics / pediatrics unit, as well as oncology, musculoskeletal / orthopedics and Neuropsychiatric centers, as well as general surgery, medicine and ER services supported by a state-of-the-art radiology center.
Equipment and design
The medical center will benefit from state-of-the-art equipment and will be implementing the latest technological advancements in patient care. Internationally experienced biomedical engineers, designers and practitioners will be involved in the facilities design and the selection of the medical equipment.
“The Heart Center, for instance, will provide the highest level of skills and expertise to treat a wide variety of cardiovascular diseases, utilizing the most advanced technologies available” says Dr. Kholoki, interventional cardiologist.
“The complex will be staffed by well trained medical practitioners, support staff and nurses and will provide outstanding standard of medical treatment and care. That will bring significant benefit to the Syrian population, and will encourage patients from across the Middle East to come to Syria for treatment”, said Mr. Hassan Mukayed, CEO of SQH. “Syrian doctors practicing in the USA and Europe are known to be among the best physicians in the world,” he continued.
“It will both retain the patients who today travel out of the country for special surgical operations and procedures and encourage Syrian experts who live abroad to come back to Syria and work in a center that aims to become Syrians’ and the region’s first choice for treatment”, says Dr. Ammar Hemaidan. “The hospital will be the first Syrian hospital seeking JCI accreditation”, he added.
SQH will be developing and managing the project through its fully owned subsidiary, Syrian-Qatari Healthcare. The total project cost is estimated to be around US$ 112 million, and the development of the entire complex is estimated to require 3.5 years.
