The Women’s Wellness and Research Center (WWRC) of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) was recently designated as a Center of Excellence by the US-based Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP).
WWRC was awarded the designation for successfully providing high-quality, patient-focused, safe, and effective care for pregnant women as well as for demonstrating excellence in education and research. It is the first hospital in the Middle East to receive recognition for programmes that demonstrate excellent obstetric anaesthesia care.
The SOAP, with a mission to improve pregnancy-related outcomes of women and neonates, was founded in 1968 to provide a forum for discussion of problems unique to the peripartum period. SOAP is comprised of anesthesiologists, obstetricians, paediatricians, and basic scientists from around the world.
WWRC Center of Excellence
The designation of hospitals as centres of excellence by SOAP is an annual accreditation programme, with new centres announced each Spring. The WWRC’s Center of Excellence status will remain valid for four years with its application having met certain criteria covering all aspects of obstetric anaesthesia care including personnel and staffing; equipment, protocols, and policies; simulation and team training; obstetric emergency management; cesarean delivery and labour analgesia care; recommendations and guidelines implementation; and quality assurance and patient follow-up systems.
Excellence in education and research is also included in the exhaustive list of criteria needed to fulfil the WWRC’s COE award by SOAP. Each metric is reviewed annually by the SOAP COE committee and updated as appropriate.
According to HMC Chief Medical Officer Dr Abdulla Al Ansari, the designation of WWRC as a Center of Excellence only shows their commitment to promote excellence, and safe and effective care for each and every patient.
He said that many anesthesiologists across HMC and notably at WWRC, play an essential role in the interdisciplinary care team and management of pregnant women. As a leading healthcare provider offering tertiary level maternity care in Qatar and across the region, HMC prides itself with cutting-edged personalised care from preconception to the postnatal stage.
We do this through a multidisciplinary team comprising anesthesiologists, obstetricians and other healthcare practitioners ensuring that pregnant women receive the best, the safest and the most compassionate care.
With around 20,000 births per year, WWRC offers personalised family-centred care to all women and newborns in Qatar. Its scope of services ranges from prenatal to perinatal, including postnatal care and newborn care.
WWRC Acting CEO and Medical Director, Dr Hilal Al Rifai, said they are continuously improving and upgrading their services to cater to the increasing needs of patients across a broad range of specialities and sub-specialities.
WWRC Consultant Anesthesiologist Dr Fatima Khatoon, who spearheaded WWRC’s application for SOAP’s COE accreditation status said that this achievement is a testament to their dedication to high quality, safe and effective care, which she said they will continue to provide to all mothers in Qatar.
For updates and more information about WWRC, visit hamad.qa.
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