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Oman's Ministry of Health is the country's largest healthcare provider, but private-sector presence is rapidly increasing as healthcare across the world becomes more complex and innovative.

Dr. Ammar Al Naji

Chairman, Babylon Medical Centre

The majority of our clients are from the oil and gas, construction, hospitality, and education sectors. The teams assigned to these sites need to be extremely experienced and trained in this field, as well as specialized in the type of industry they cater to. We provide medical teams to our clients’ remote sites. These remote sites require a certain number of medical employees based onsite to provide emergency services. For example, construction sites or oil and gas sites need one nurse onsite per a certain number of employees. Some of these are government regulations while others are different regulations of different companies. Most companies outsource these services to medical providers, and we provide medical teams and fully equipped ambulances as per the standards. We also have a warehouse to distribute pharmaceuticals, so we also provide medication to these sites. If the client requires mobile clinics, we can customize mobile clinics for them as well; we offer a one-stop service as per the customers’ requirements. When providing a medical service, we need to understand the requirements of the medical team in order to provide excellent service. The important point is building and investing in one’s team. Babylon also operates permanent medical centers, so our experience there helps guide the structure of our remote teams. Our strategy for 2019 is to expand; we want to establish a day care center in Muscat and expand our medical centers in North Batinah.

Dr. Sadik Kodakat

Chairman, Starcare Hospitals

In 2008, Starcare was originally a consulting company in the healthcare field based in Manchester. We saw greater opportunities in the Middle East and moved our office to Dubai in 2009. We opened our first hospital in Oman and at present, we operate in Oman, the UAE, and India. Our quality systems differentiate us from the competition. When we opened the hospital in 2011, we saw a lack of confidence in the healthcare system in Oman. We spoke to various stakeholders, including government officials and insurers, and fine-tuned our vision. Before Starcare, there was no internationally accredited hospital in the country, and now there are eight or nine. Fortunately, Oman is introducing its own healthcare accreditation system, and we are the first private center to pilot this scheme. In Oman, the Ministry of Health is by far the largest healthcare provider. In the outpatient segment, we have seen an increasing private sector presence. However, in the in-patient segment, private healthcare providers provide less than 10%. Still, the government realizes that healthcare is becoming increasingly expensive and it is not viable for it to continue providing all this care. In addition, to bring in more innovative ideas, the government has sought to increase the level of private-sector engagement. In 2019, we will open our first women and children hospital called Starcare Cuddles and start working on the largest private hospital in Oman called Starcare Healthcity, with 400 beds and numerous specialties.

Redha Juma Al-Saleh

Managing Director, Redha Juma Al-Saleh

Lama Polyclinic is one of the oldest clinics in Muscat, and it has been in operation since 1987. As the city grew and developed, we expanded to offer more comprehensive services to our clients, which is why our immediate goal is to become a hospital with at least 120 beds to cater to our nearly 300 patients per day. We currently have all kinds of specialists, though we want to have all the technical advantages of a modern hospital. We are still in the development phase for this transition, and it will be completed in 2019. Every hospital has its own way of working. We hire the best doctors and compensate them well to cater to our various clients. Several of our doctors have been with us for more than 10 years, which creates a bond between our staff and patients. Furthermore, we are extremely care-oriented, and our priority is the wellbeing of the patient rather than just our bottom line. This really differentiates us from our competitors. Moving forward, we hope to add a cosmetic and hair transplant service as well as laser eye treatment services, for which we would like to bring in Iranian experience and know-how, as they have many specialists in the field. We will continue to prepare ourselves for any new changes and bring in more qualified doctors. We are working hard to create a roadshow for the hospital that will be finished in 2019. Once we finish all the prep work, we will be able to inaugurate the hospital as soon as possible.

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