Health Ministry officials announced Sunday a package of initiatives in the field of training and information technology to enhance the infrastructure of the health care sector.
The package includes a Healthcare Learning and Simulation Center in the Saudi capital.
The initiatives will be carried out by the ministry in partnership with the General Electric (GE), an official from the ministry of health told Arab News Sunday.
The announcement followed talks held between Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and Chairman and CEO of GE Jeffrey Immelt, at the headquarters of the ministry in Riyadh on Sunday.Earlier, Immelt met Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of Defense in Jeddah on Sunday.
The Healthcare Learning and Simulation Center Center is a specialized center for medical education and simulation, which is the first of its kind in the Kingdom.
The project is scheduled to be established through a partnership program between the King Fahd Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh and GE. It will be the leading provider of the best educational and training programs in specialized health care sector in the Middle East, the official said.
The center will provide training programs in the areas of clinical, technological and administrative areas in the health sector. The program also includes practical and online training courses for nurses. The whole project is expected to be completed in 2014. Besides training courses, the center will also organize awareness programs in various subjects depending on the needs of the society.
The joint initiative also aims to support the MoH in setting up a dedicated Performance Improvement Unit designed to continue enhancing operational efficiencies of various MoH clinics and departments.
Supporting the Kingdom's leadership on the advancement of an e-health information system, the MoH will partner with GE Healthcare to enable interoperability standards between different IT systems and divisions of the health care system.
GE is also partner with the MoH on the Breast Cancer Screening Program in Riyadh launched by Princess Hessa Al-Shaalan, wife of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
Al-Rabeeah said his ministry is forging ahead with its ambitious plans to develop the infrastructure of the health care sector.
He added that the joint venture initiatives also indicate the commitment of the health ministry to provide the necessary training for the local staff in all health sectors.
Under the proposed program, the ministry of health would develop its e-health programs with integrated solutions to cover data of patients, their records, hospitals, clinics and primary health care centers and the health officials.
It would also help the ministry update its medical equipment according to global standards.
In the Kingdom, GE Healthcare works closely with key government and private partners including the Ministry of Health (MoH) to bring about transformational change in health care delivery by providing advanced technologies, training and performance solutions to help our customers deliver better quality of care.
More than 20,000 GE Healthcare technologies are deployed across the Kingdom's hospitals. Moreover, GE has provided training to more than 3,000 health care professionals, including over 150 MoH Directors. In partnership with MoH, GE has also transformed operating rooms in 20 hospitals and seven emergency rooms across hospitals in the Kingdom through tools and methodologies aimed at enhancing business and management efficiencies.
MD Rasooldeen - Arab News
