University Hospitals to Get Makeover

Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran has initiated a plan to rebuild its old and dilapidated hospitals.

Reza Paydar, deputy for treatment affairs at the university, says most of the hospitals affiliated to the university currently lack safety standards and “will be gradually rebuilt after the old buildings are knocked down.”

The new hospital buildings “will uphold global standards and their capacity is to be enhanced,” he said, salamatnews.com reported.

Lolagar hospital in Dampezeshki Street (District 10), Firouzgar Hospital near Valiasr Square (District 6), the 1000-bed Rasool Akram Hospital in Sattarkhan (District 2) and the 400-bed Firouzabadi Hospital near Basij Mostazafan Square (District 20) are among the major projects for reconstruction.

Other projects getting a makeover and are at various stages of rebuilding include the Malard and Qods health centers with 300 beds, and a psychiatric hospital with 200 beds. An expanded burns center in west Tehran with 150 beds is set to be the largest of its kind.  Seyed Javad Haji Mir-Esmaeil, head of the Iran University of Medical Sciences rued the short lifespan of Iranian hospitals.

“The estimated useful life or life span of hospitals in the country is around 30-40 years, after which they need to be renovated, retrofitted or rebuilt,” he said earlier, and called for extending the life span of hospitals by using high-quality materials and modern building methods.

According to Paydar, Iran University’s hospital beds have a 90% occupancy rate.

“Emergency patients are given immediate admission and patients needing specialized surgery are not kept on the waitlist for more than two weeks, depending on the type of operation and their health condition,” he said.

Despite insurance companies’ huge unpaid bills to the hospitals, patients are not rejected and standard services are provided to all, he added.

“The Health Ministry has allocated funds for hospitals to renovate their inpatient facilities with ‘hotelling services’ so that patients are not inconvenienced.”

Based on the 2014 Health Reform Plan, hotelling involves facilities related to inpatient well-being including beds and appropriate rooms or space for those who accompany the patients. Facilities include sleepwear, food and TV.

Iran University has added about 700 beds to the hospital capacity over the past three years. It recently opened a hospital in Baharestan County in Tehran Province. Although in operation for less than a month, the hospital receives around 700 patients every day.

“The county did not have a hospital prior to the launch of the medical facility,” said Paydar.

He urged the city council to put people’s health on priority and facilitate implementation of medical projects that have been approved.