Sponsored by the Head of Government Follow-Up Committee in Gaza, MOH, ICRC inaugurates the renovated emergency department at Shifa Medical Complex.
Head of the Government Follow-Up Committee in Gaza, Mr Isam Aldaaleis, inaugurated the emergency department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex after its renovation.
The renovated department was funded by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with one million US dollars, celebrated in a large ceremony held at Al-Shifa Medical Complex.
During his speech at the ceremony, Aldaaleis said that there always has been an urgent need to develop the emergency department at Al-Shifa complex, where the confined space, limited furniture and equipment are not enough for the minimum volume of patients received by the department in peacetime, not to mention during wartime and the double effort exerted by our doctors, he said.
Mr Aldaaleis explained that the project increased the emergency department’s total space from 1200 square meters to 2000 square meters with more beds, in addition to increasing the number of ICU beds to receive an average number of daily cases from 850 to 1000 cases per day.
Nevertheless, medical staff doubled to more than 160 personnel, including 50 doctors, and 95 nurses, in addition to administrative and technical staff.
Mr Aldaaleis praised the Ministry of Health’s efforts to localize vital medical services, such as organ transplantation, which benefited 132 patients, the cochlear transplant program benefited 116 patients, and the corneal transplant program with 108 cases of self-donation.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Health Dr Yousef Abu al-Rish said he is proud of the completion of the project because of the positive effect in times of emergency and crisis.
“A thousand people visit the emergency department daily, which required radical changes have been made in the department such as increasing the number of patients beds from 30 to 64 beds, and this was accompanied by raising the intensive care beds from 5 beds to 10, in addition to expanding the total area of the emergency department to become two thousand square meters” Abu Al -Rish added.
Abu Al -Rish stressed: “This renovation aims to provide easy access to medical services, pointing to the adoption of a model system based on the best medical practices commensurate with international standards.
Abu Al -Rish praised ICRC’s efforts in supporting the completion of the project and pointed out that the emergency department at Al-Shifa complex employs 165 doctors from various specialities enrolled in the “board” program, as well as nurses, to provide a distinctive and safe medical service to citizens in the city of Gaza.
For his part, the head of the ICRC sub-mission in Gaza, William Schomburg, said: We have been working closely with the Ministry of Health over the past months to complete the project in 3 stages.
Schomburg added: the Red Cross seeks to protect and assist victims of armed conflicts around the world, and the humanitarian goal is the basis of the work of our independent and impartial organization.
Schomburg continued: in the Gaza Strip, It depends on the provision of services according to basic needs during emergencies and armed conflicts, and this requires working together with the Ministry of Health and the Palestine Red Crescent Society to ensure an effective response in times of emergency that require greater effort.
Indicating the importance of medical care entrusted to the emergency departments at such times, Schomburg said that the development project took place because Al- Shifa medical complex plays a role in dealing with daily incidents and hostilities, referring to the military assaults launched by the Israeli occupation army and resulting in heinous crimes against civilians.