Al-Sager: We have taken important steps to transform the hospital into one of the best regional centers for treating children’s incurable diseases

  • We are proud of the role we play in supporting CSR activities, especially in the field of children’s healthcare
  • We are pursuing our mission in supporting the children and helping them to overcome their pain and to regain their health and lead the life they deserve
  • We will continue to invest in the development of all the hospital’s units in an effort to alleviate the suffering of patients and their families

Al-Saeed: NBK’s initiative promote the private sector’s important social role in supporting the government’s efforts to improve healthcare services

Pursuing its leading role in supporting CSR activities, especially in the field of children’s healthcare, and in the presence of the Minister of Health, Dr. Khaled Al-Saeed, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) launched a large expansion project for its Children’s Hospital specialized in stem cell transplant. The project’s cost is estimated at KD 13 million, with an area of 8,000 sqm, following the acceptance of the donation provided by the bank to finance the expansion project by the Council of Ministers.

Mr. Isam Al-Sager, NBK Group Vice-Chairman and CEO accompanied by Dr. Ali Mulla, NBK Children’s Hospital Director, and Dr. Sondus Alsharidah, Head of Stem Cell Transplant Unit received the Minister of Health, who visited the site of the new project, which will start work in 2023. They also had a tour in NBK Children’s Hospital, which included a visit to the stem cell treatment unit and other departments. During this, they inspected the conditions of the patients and presented gifts to them to put a smile on their faces and alleviate their suffering.

On this occasion, Al-Sager noted that over the past years NBK has taken important steps to transform the hospital into one of the best regional centers providing treatment to children suffering from incurable diseases, including establishing the Stem Cell Transplant Unit, which is the first of its kind in Kuwait.

“We are proud of the role we are playing to support CSR activities, especially in the field of children’s healthcare through its medical edifice NBK Children’s Hospital specialized in stem cell transplant, as well as other social contributions extended to many other entities providing care for children patients in Kuwait,” he added.

Al-Sager emphasized that NBK will pursue its mission, which has continued over the past decades, in helping children to overcome their pain to regain their health and lead the joyful life they deserve.

The Minister of Health extended his thanks to NBK for their efforts to promote the private sector’s important social role in supporting the government’s efforts to improve healthcare services.

Al-Saeed added that NBK Children’s Hospital and the planned expansion embody the close collaboration between the public and private sectors to serve the development of the Kuwaiti society.

Stem Cell Transplant Unit

The Stem Cell Transplant Unit of NBK Children’s Hospital provides its services to children under the age of 16. The hospital continues to enhance its services in treating patients, applying safety standards, developing researches, as well as providing care for patients and their families as per the highest international standards.

NBK Children’s Hospital inaugurated its Stem Cell Transplant Unit in May 2017. The Unit is divided into outpatient clinics, a blood transfusions division, wards for day care and chemotherapy, a division dedicated to the Blood Bank, in addition to the Stem Cell Transplant Ward. The Unit started operation in phases to ensure meeting quality standards in cancer care and stem cell transplant.

Integrated Care

In line with NBK Children Hospital’s strategy to provide integrated care for patients, the hospital’s management embeds the wellbeing of children and their families as a key part of the treatment programs and healthcare services. To this end, the hospital organizes many various activities to ensure continuous communication with patients and their families, as well as to raise patients’ satisfaction and encourage them to socialize and distract from the pains of treatment.

On Mondays of every week all year round, the hospital holds a fun activity for children treated at NBK’s Specialized Hospital for Children, including inpatients and outpatients visiting the hospital for the necessary medical examinations to follow up on their health conditions.

NBK has also provided an indoor cinema for inpatient children to watch their favorite movies with their siblings.

NBK also organizes ‘I Dream to Be’ program, which is the first of its kind for children in Kuwait hospitals who are facing life-threatening conditions. The initiative helps the children realize their ‘dreams’ in an effort to improve their emotional and psychological wellbeing and help them fight the diseases. Through this program NBK helped many patients realize their dreams over the past years.

The hospital also provides a number of integrated social programs for children and their families as well as the medical staff to ensure an integrated benefit for all. This includes including organizing weekly entertainment activities and the selection of “champion of the week”, in addition to choosing “the nurse of the month”. The hospital also organizes regular activities including “reading corner”, library, reading sessions, visits and entertainment activities. This comes within the endeavors to support and care not only for children during their treatment journey, but also for the attending medical staff.

Continuous Support

NBK contributes to supporting the hospital by continuing to invest in developing all its units and sponsoring all its activities that go beyond treatment services to include various activities aiming to relieve the suffering of patients and their families, with growth seen in these investments over the past year.

The overall patient experience has seen improvement, as more outpatient services are provided in the outpatient and day care department, with working hours in the day care facility from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. all week round, which ultimately helped reduce admission rate.

NBK also organizes awareness campaign on NBK Hospital’s Instagram and Twitter accounts, in addition to providing advice, awareness, and entertainment programs for patients and their families on these accounts, which are popular and well-received by followers.

Unprecedented Achievement

NBK Children’s Hospital recently conducted the first stem cell transplant in Kuwait for a 3-year-old girl, in an unprecedented medical achievement made by the medical staff who conducted the surgery. The team included a select of qualified national cadres headed by Dr. Sondus Alsharidah, Consultant of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation, and Dr. Muna Burhama, Head of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology. Adult stem cell transplantation team, including Dr. Salem Al-Shemmari and Dr. Samar Refaat participated in the surgery, helped by highly qualified nursing and technical staff.

The hospital staff received the girl in stem cell transplant ward 3 weeks before the surgery to make the necessary procedures in preparation for the surgery including obtaining and isolating stem cells from the patient, and undergoing surgery to remove the cancerous tumor, in addition to receiving chemotherapy. This case is considered the first stem cell transplant conducted in Kuwait.

This achievement is the culmination of the efforts of the hospital’s medical staff of specialized cadres trained as per the best international standards in providing healthcare services, who receive all means of support and appreciation from NBK.

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