Future medical services at KAUST Health

Dear KAUST community,

KAUST Health’s mission is to provide the KAUST community with a modern, holistic health and wellbeing service, maintaining high levels of patient experience and satisfaction. In 2022 KAUST Health provided 90,014 “patient encounters” and received a very positive outcome in its recent Joint Commission International (JCI) reaccreditation. For the past ten years, the services at KAUST Health have been provided by Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH). In January 2022, President Chan established the KAUST Health Strategic Review Group, chaired by Samer Samman (Chief Human Resources Officer) and including a wide range of stakeholders, to review the health services provision for the KAUST community and appoint a health services provider for the next contract period.

After an initial consultant-led review of the healthcare market in Jeddah and KSA and an extensive request for information (RFI) exercise, the best qualified providers were invited to take part in the tender process. After a rigorous evaluation, International Medical Center (IMC) has been selected as the KAUST medical services provider for the next contract period, starting June 1, 2023.

The new service contract means that a number of enhancements can be made to the services offered by KAUST Health, including:

• a single patient medical record that can be accessed from any of the IMC facilities
• an enhanced referral process to specialists at IMC in Jeddah
• an enhanced patient experience at IMC in Jeddah for all KAUST attendees
• improved digital record access and processes, including virtual appointments

Additional services within KAUST will include:

• a wide range of specialty consultants returning to offer in-person consultations
• increased dental service availability
• increased physiotherapy service availability
• enhanced online services and telemedicine

The IMC is a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary hospital that features specialty centers providing a wide range of comprehensive treatment options for different health concerns.  They have over 150 US, Canadian and European certified physicians in more than 30 specialties. As well as the main IMC hospital in Jeddah, there are additional satellite clinics in Jeddah and a new hospital and wellness center is scheduled to open in North Jeddah within the next 24 months.

DSFH has ably supported the KAUST community for the past ten years and is keen to ensure a smooth transfer of support to IMC in the transition. KAUST is grateful for its continued support and recognizes the team’s hard work and contributions to the community, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Patients can continue accessing DSFH services through their facilities in Jeddah, along with many hospitals in the BUPA network, as the same health insurance coverage will continue.

The KAUST Health team is working with other KAUST stakeholders, IMC and DSFH to ensure that the mobilization and transition plans are efficiently implemented. There will be regular community updates over the next three months and opportunities for the community to ask questions as we move closer to June 1, 2023.  A FAQ page has been created, which will be regularly updated, to help answer any questions you may have. We look forward to working in collaboration with the IMC management and healthcare delivery team as we move forward into a new era of health services for KAUST.

Regards,

Chris Sealey
VP, Community Life

Pierre Magistretti
Chair, KAUST Health Board