Ammon News - Residents of the southern Jordanian Governorate of Tafileh are pinning hope on a new public hospital that is expected to start operations during the first quarter of 2022.

They say the new hospital will help address the governorate’s lack of healthcare facilities and specialists.

“Currently, there is only one operating hospital, Prince Zaid Hospital, in Tafileh that serves a population of over 101,000 people,” a former health directorate official in the governorate, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Jordan Times.

He stated that not all medical specialties are available at the current hospital, and some specialists can only see patients once a week.

“If an emergency occurs, patients are transferred to one of the Royal Medical Services hospitals in Amman,” he added.

“Although Prince Zaid Hospital in Tafileh is considered a ‘Royal Medical Services hospital’, any individual with public health insurance can access the hospital at insured rates”, the source noted.

According to the source, there is no orthodontics specialty available at the Tafileh hospital, therefore, many orthodontics graduates are unemployed. Furthermore, patients have to travel to other governorates to receive treatment and for check-ups.

“I had to pay for a studio in Amman and an ambulance to transport my husband when he had an emergency open-heart surgery,” Um Hisham, an individual, told The Jordan Times.

“We can’t afford the cost of travelling to Amman or Karak for each checkup since my husband is sick and can’t drive. My son has to take a day off to take his father for each appointment,” she said.

“This is very inconvenient for patients and their families,” Um Hisham.

Sahem Hamaideh, a dentist at Prince Zaid Hospital, told The Jordan Times that the workload at the hospital is “unbearable”.

“I see over 30 patients during my nine-hour shift,” he said.

“Adverse working conditions, lack of support and workload are among the top challenges facing the medical staff at the hospital,” Hamaideh said.

“The new hospital will provide job opportunities to over 500 local residents,” according to the source.

*jordantimes