Welcare Diagnostic and Treatment Center celebrates its first anniversary in Oman

Since it opened its doors in May 2007 under the patronage of H.E Eng. Abdullah bin Abbas bin Ahmed, Chairman of Muscat Municipality, and H.E Ahmed bin Suwaidan Al Balushi, Chairman of Welcare DTC, the Center has successfully recruited top specialist talent, experienced large increases in patient volume, and implemented many new services - all while realizing very high patient satisfaction.

Welcare DTC is one-of-its-kind multidisciplinary medical center in Oman equipped with state-of-the art technology and designed to deliver modern health care services which has successfully developed a whole new aspect of healthcare in the community. The Center, today serves as the single-point access to modern services which are custom-designed to meet the changing needs of patients in the Sultanate.

'In the past one year, we have set a high standard of healthcare in Oman in the private sector. Since we opened, more than 3000 new patients have availed the services in different specialties by well qualified specialists", Dr. Pavan Kumar Shrivastava, Medical Director, Welcare DTC Oman said. 'We have a team of highly experienced staff who provide the best possible care to everyone who passes through our doors.'

In a year of impressive growth for the Center, latest technologies and new services offered to patients and their families have been introduced at an astounding speed.

These include state-of-art medical equipments such as Bone densitometer, Mammography machine, 4-D ultrasound and fundus camera introduced for the first time in the private sector in Oman. The addition of the Endoscopes in the ENT Department has created the most modern ENT clinic in Oman. The new Oncology Clinic and Dermatology Clinic completed the range of services that Welcare DTC has to offer to the community in Oman.

Surveys conducted on behalf of the Center show high patient satisfaction. When patients were asked about their likelihood of recommending the center to others, Welcare Center received extremely high scores. As a result, various corporate organizations have entered into contractual agreements with the Center for providing medical services to their staff & their families. Moreover, 14 major insurance companies in the country have tied up with Welcare DTC for providing medical care to their clients.

"We are just getting warmed-up," stated Dr. Shrivastava, adding "There is a strong sense of excellence at the Welcare Center. You can see it in the staff and in the quality of care provided. We appreciate the overwhelming vote of confidence from our patients."

Welcare DTC's team of highly qualified and accomplished specialists contributes to the Center's success. The Gynecology department has successfully performed 40 deliveries last year, handling complicated cases that have required surgical intervention. Ophthalmology department has provided services not available in private sector before and the specialist has performed 20 complicated surgeries in the past year. The Cardiology department provides comprehensive management of all types of cardiac problems including early detection of ischemic heart diseases.

"These developments have created new dimensions at the Welcare DTC that will enable us to fulfill our commitment of bringing better health care to the country," said Dr. Shrivastava further adding, "Our aim is not only to provide medical care but also to educate people to bring about awareness in disease prevention. To achieve this, we have had eminent specialists conduct public awareness lectures and early detection camps for breast cancer, stress management, heart diseases and glaucoma throughout the year. The Center also participated in the Muscat Festival 2008 and provided free medical & blood sugar check up. About 2000 visitors utilized these services, entered in weekly lucky draws & won prizes along with medical check ups."

On other milestones achieved by the Center, Dr. Shrivastava commented, "We believe in continued medical education (CME) for the medical professionals and hence, we have conducted several CME's attended and appreciated by the medical community in Oman. Also, an executive health check up scheme was held for locals as well as expatriates that included detailed examination by specialists along with extensive radiological and pathological examination and early cancer detection examination."

The Center recently extended its working hours on Thursdays to serve and attend to patients during their convenient hours. The new working hours on all Thursdays are now 8:30am to 1:00pm and from 4:30pm to 9pm, the same as the Center timings through the week from Saturday to Wednesday.