New Logo Design Symbolises the Organisation's Three Pillars: Health, Education and Research

Doha, January 4, 2010: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) announced on Sunday night at a gala dinner, the launch of a new corporate brand identity to reflect the organisation's rich heritage, significant achievements and future aspirations. The new brand identity, which was revealed at the Grand Hyatt Doha hotel and attended by senior HMC staff members, will help HMC build on its accomplishments over the last three decades and support its long-term strategy of being a premier healthcare facility within the Middle East.

The new image underlines HMC's efforts to provide for its citizens a new future in healthcare delivery. To symbolise this effort, the organisation has launched a new logo that depicts an image of three medicinal healing leaves which was inspired by Qatar's rich local medicinal history.  The logo is also intended to portray the relationship between nature and medicine, and symbolizes what the organization considers its three key pillars: Health, Education and Research.

"The three leaves also symbolize the healing hands of our care teams - our doctors, nurses and health professionals," said Dr. Hanan Al Kuwari, HMC Managing Director, during her speech to reveal the new brand identity.  "The leaves are in a circular shape to demonstrate that our professional care and support remains focused on providing quality medical care in a caring and professional manner to our patients."

"The circular motion of the leaves also reflect our never-ending pursuit of excellence and our commitment to continuously improving our services," Dr. Al Kuwari added.  "Supported by our new identity and our strategic direction, HMC is providing an ideal environment for the development of new and improved medical practices while continuously raising standards in the regional healthcare sector. We continue on this path in order to meet the expectations of our leadership and the patients who rely on us."

The new HMC logo is green and blue.  Green is generally considered the color of peace, renewal, hope, growth and life, which are all important values to both HMC and its patients.  The blue in the logo represents health, knowledge and communication which explain the importance placed by HMC on improving the health of its patients, in learning and education, and in sharing the organization's knowledge and values.

As part of the new brand, each hospital has been assigned its own special color to reflect the particular type of medical care it provides.  All hospitals will also carry the same

values and colors reflected in the three pillars to underline the fact that they are part of the largest medical healthcare organisation in Qatar.

Al Kuwari remarked on the "giant strides" that HMC has made in quality improvement of its services, particularly in prevention and rehabilitation, emergency and outpatient services, ongoing integration of education and research into its day-to-day medical practice, and the use of information technology to promote an electronic system at HMC.

The organisation has upheld and raised standards in the development of medical protocols to improve the practice of medicine at HMC. This accomplishment is augmented by further efforts to ensure the comfort of patients and their families during their hospital visit.

Al Kuwari also lauded the transformation of HMC's management systems "by restructuring corporate and hospital departments so that they are aligned to our new strategy of decentralized management."  Pursuant to the strategy, each hospital is given increased authority and responsibility for the management of its facility and services to meet the standards set by HMC.

Hamad Medical Corporation was established in 1979 by Emiri Decree and named in honor of the late Sheikh Hamad bin Abdulla Al Thani, the grandfather of the current Emir His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.  The name "Hamad" forms a central part of the new logo to reflect HMC's pride in its history and tradition.

HMC's five hospitals have recently been granted reaccreditation by the Joint Commission International (JCI) after a rigid process to ensure compliance with the JCI's stringent criteria for patient care.  HMC's home health care services also earned the first accreditation of its kind in the Middle East.

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About HMC:
Hamad Medical Corporation is the premier non-profit health care provider in Doha, Qatar.  It was established by Emiri decree in 1979 and manages five highly specialized hospitals, namely, Hamad General Hospital, Rumailah Hospital, Women's Hospital, Al Amal Hospital and Al Khor Hospital.  Since its establishment, HMC has rapidly developed medical facilities capable of providing state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment of diseases that previously could only be managed in overseas medical centers.

HMC prides itself in providing quality and cost efficient health care for all patients regardless of nationality, in line with the State of Qatar's pledge of "Health for All".  For this purpose, the Corporation implements a policy of continuous improvement of all management systems and patient care protocols.

For more information, please contact:
Marketing and Public Relations Department
Hamad Medical Corporation
Tel. No.: +974 439 6126
Fax No.: +974 439 5002

© Press Release 2010