Hulhumalé Hospital has expanded its specialist healthcare services with the introduction of gastroenterology, neurology and urology, in a move aimed at reducing patient waiting times and easing pressure on Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
The three services were officially inaugurated by Minister of Health, Family and Social Services Keela Ali, who also opened a new Neuroscience Unit at the hospital to mark the expansion.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister Keela said the government is working to make specialist healthcare more readily available through state hospitals, reducing the need for patients to seek treatment overseas.
While some of the newly introduced services are already available at regional hospitals, Keela said establishing them in Hulhumalé is particularly important because of the large number of patients currently awaiting specialist care in the Greater Malé region.
She said reducing these waiting lists and providing patients with easier access to treatment within the country are among the main objectives of the expansion.
A significant number of Maldivians continue to travel overseas each year for medical treatment, and Keela said the government’s aim is to make more specialist services available domestically.
“The President’s goal is to establish such specialist services in state hospitals to provide ease to the public,” she said.
CEO of the Malé Group of Hospitals Ibrahim Abdul Razzaq Haleem said Hulhumalé Hospital already offers several specialist services, but patients requiring treatment in the three newly introduced fields have until now largely had to seek care at IGMH or Dharumavantha Hospital.
Under the new neurology service, patients will be able to receive specialist consultations as well as electroencephalogram (EEG) diagnostic testing, which is used to measure electrical activity in the brain.
The newly introduced urology service will similarly provide specialist consultations alongside diagnostic procedures including uroflowmetry, a test used to assess the flow of urine and help identify problems affecting the urinary system.
Gastroenterology will initially begin with specialist consultations. Patients requiring further procedures can then be referred for appropriate intervention, while the hospital plans to introduce endoscopy and colonoscopy services in the near future.
EEG testing at the newly opened Neuroscience Unit will be available every day during official working hours, with registration open until 2:00 pm. Emergency cases requiring the service will be accommodated at any time.
The addition of the three specialties follows a broader expansion of Hulhumalé Hospital over the past two and a half years as authorities work to increase capacity and address space limitations at the facility.
Among the major additions is a modern operating theatre complex comprising four operating rooms, alongside a 10-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipped with an isolation room.
The hospital has also established a 14-bed Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) as part of efforts to expand critical care services for newborns.
Hulhumalé’s rapidly growing population has increased demand for healthcare services in the city, while IGMH and Dharumavantha Hospital in Malé continue to handle a significant proportion of specialist referrals from across the country. Expanding specialist care at Hulhumalé Hospital is intended to distribute that patient load across the Greater Malé area’s public hospital network while making services more accessible to residents.
