Private health facilities to offer free services for widows, orphans

Several private hospitals and clinics in the Eastern Province have announced that they would offer free medical services for orphans and widows.
Many of these hospitals, however, have put forth a certain criteria of eligibility for these services, some of which are reportedly near impossible to fulfill, prompting many to conclude that the service is nothing more than a PR campaign for these establishments.
Medical services for orphans and widows will be offered on certain days of the week and patients should bring in documents proving their social status.
Ads and notices have appeared on social media websites and on the gates of these clinics and hospitals.
“Such an idea was floated as an act of goodwill, but there are criteria and other restrictions,” said Adham Ghalayini, medical director at a dental clinic in Alkhobar.
“Our clinic, for instance, cannot accommodate more than 20 patients at a time,” he said.
“The idea behind this initiative is to engage in social responsibility following demands for these services in the private sector, but as a medical establishment, we can only offer free medical services on certain days and in certain capacities,” he said.
“We have devoted an office for coordination of these free services and for processing the paperwork of would-be patients.”
Ghalayini refuted rumors that the service would be available all year round.
“We began offering the service during Ramadan on a particular day of the week in the evening.”
“Services have continued into August,” he said.
“The idea, simply, is a non-profit human, social and medical initiative that takes into consideration people’s circumstances.”
Yousif Abdulaziz, a clinic owner, confirmed that these services could be offered permanently in the future, but are still under review.
“We need to verify the effectiveness of such a scheme and assess the cons,” he said.
“There is increasing demand for social responsibility initiatives and as investors, we try to respond to these demands through offering free services to vulnerable social segments,” added Abdulaziz.
“We are trying to cooperate with Social Affairs in the Eastern Province to get the names of individuals who are in need of medical services. We are not turning into a full-fledged charity by any means. The issue is still under study and we have not reached an agreement on the matter as yet.”