Government Hospital in Qatar
It was my first visit to the Al Hamad Women’s Hospital. It is situated in a complex, along with the Al Hamad General Hospital. First impressions: it had a big parking lot, reception was like a hotel’s. There are 3 types of rooms that you can choose from: one where 4 people share, one where 2 can share (the first two is what you can call a ward), and the private room, which they say is like a suite. I was able to see the one where 2 people can share, and it is nothing like a ward. The room was very spacious, had a big bathroom, had 2 phones, drawers and a small cabinet. I’ve been to government hospitals in the Philippines and when you say “ward”, it means that at least 10 people are placed in one big hall. What’s more amazing with the hospital is that you really don’t pay for all the medical services, tests and treatments that you get. You are only to pay for the room, that is QR100 for the double-sharing, and QR800 for the private/a night (didn’t get the price for the 4-people sharing). Opting for the room-sharing is not that bad, although I learned that males, for instance the husband, are not allowed to stay overnight. So if you have no one to take care of you but your husband or if you need more space, better choose the private room. Just don’t regret about the QR700 that you could have saved per night afterwards. Either way, you’d still be saving a lot. One catch though, cameras are not allowed during delivery, so if you’re keen about documenting your baby’s birth, then start looking for a good private hospital that allows that, cause I’ve heard that these private ones are not at par with the Al Hamad in terms of medical services and technology. I hope being a government hospital meant the same in the Philippines. Here, people don’t pay taxes and yet people, including expats benefit from the government’s general services whereas in the Philippines, the “E-VAT” has just been passed into law. I just wonder if our countrymen will ever benefit from the taxes that they’re paying for.
