Saudi Aramco Medical Services Organization is the complex of company-operated and privately contracted hospitals that serve Saudi Aramco employees and their dependents, numbering about 500,000 total. In all Saudi Aramco communities, basic health care is provided through clinics, which function much as Health Maintenance Organizations do in the United States.
A rotating staff of general practitioners performs examinations and prescribes care on an outpatient basis. All of the clinics have facilities and laboratories for basic diagnostic testing. Each clinic provides ambulance service and emergency room care, and each has a pharmacy where prescriptions ordered by clinic physicians can be filled at no charge. The community clinics are designed to take care of ordinary medical needs. More significant health problems are handled at the Dhahran Health Center by referral from a clinic physician.
The Dhahran Health Center consists of a 483-bed hospital, with an eight-bed intensive care unit, plus various outpatient services. That compares favorably with most community hospitals in the United States. In addition to general medicine and surgery, the Health Center provides a full complement of medical care so most medical problems can be treated.
The professional staff at the hospital is multinational, but many of the specialists are U.S. Board Certified or the UK's equivalent. Beginning in 2003, the Dhahran Health Center is accredited by JCI, the newly created international division of JCAH. Saudi Aramco's blood bank is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks. Liaison relations exist with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, for immediate consultation regarding diseases of international significance.
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