Oman International Hospital opens

Oman International Hospital (OIH), the newest multispecialty healthcare facility has opened in Al Ghubra, Muscat.  As many as 90,000 Omanis went abroad for specialist medical treatment but in recent years numbers have fallen significantly due to new hospitals offering specialist care in Oman, and the state greatly restricting the number of patients it sends abroad.

OIH is the result of a partnership between Suhail Bahwan Group, Oman Brunei Investment Company, and Portuguese health group, IGHS.

As a teaching hospital, OIH has partnered with the University of Coimbra, and in collaboration with Siemens, it will host a Med Academy.

The hospital’s services will be opened in phases, with initially the emergency department, radiology, laboratory, and the outpatient clinic and related facilities welcoming patients.

Additional departments and services will then become available over the course of the next few months. These include four centres of excellence, Women and Children’s Centre, the Heart Care Centre, Ortho and Spine Centre, and the Oman Vision Centre.

OIH is the largest private healthcare entity in Oman with 120 beds that can grow to more than 200, 41 medical consultation offices, 73 observation/treatment/exam rooms, five operating theatres, three delivery rooms, an emergency department, a full range of intensive care units, a radiology department, a medical spa, R&D facilities and four laboratories.

OIH is only one of a host of new hospitals, medical centres, and clinics in the pipeline that are expected to play a major role in achieving Oman’s Health Vision 2050, a long-term strategy that aims to support the government’s goal of providing an equitable and responsive healthcare system.

With international level hospitals and clinics opening, far fewer Omanis will need to go to nearby Dubai. The country may even become a medical tourism destination for the region, particularly for neighbours Yemen and Saudi Arabia.