The opening of the 300-bed Yanbu General Hospital has created a problem between the Health Affairs Department and the Royal Commission in the region on the one hand and residents on the other, after the management of the commission’s medical center announced it had decided to refer all patient residents of Yanbu Al-Bahar area, Badr governorate and some other towns to the new hospital. The department and commission say the move was organizational, as the medical center is a specialist one that performs only specialist medical services, according to a statement issued by the Royal Commission.
However, the Health Affairs Department in Madinah said the move was “incorrect” and that the center was not specialist, as it had been referring many specialist cases to government hospitals.
The Madinah department also said the medical center did not transfer patients’ files to the new hospital, and no coordination had taken place between Health Affairs and the medical center in that regard. It added that it appreciated the cooperation between the Royal Commission’s medical center and the health sector in Yanbu to serve patients and the public interest.
The medical center, which serves the Royal Commission’s officials and houses only the city’s residents, said it would only treat specialist cases and cases requiring surgeries for which treatment is not available at the general hospital. It said that it is “coordinating” to transfer patients’ medical records to government hospitals and medical centers in the region, adding that during the transfer period medical services were being introduced to all patients until the center and the Health Affairs were sure transferred patients are receiving their medical services at the general hospital.
The center said the move did not include patients with chronic diseases, patients in need of kidney dialysis and those with conditions requiring specialist surgical procedures.
The Royal Commission has always designated its establishments for the interests of the country and its people as per the King’s order, and it will continue to do so, it said.
Yanbu residents complain of being transferred to government hospital
