Health Ministry spokesman Dr. Khalid Al-Mirghalani told Arab News yesterday that the restructuring program was directed by Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah in keeping with the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who had shown a keen interest in providing the best health care services to the people in the Kingdom.
Al-Mirghalani said the new organizational structure of the Ministry of Health was designed to offer optimum services to the people and enhance the quality and magnitude of services rendered by the ministry through its health officials under its “Patients First” program.
According to the new system, there will be only two deputy ministers for the health minister. “This is the first time that such a scheme of two deputy ministers functioning under the health minister has been introduced,” Al-Mirghalani said.
Dr. Mansour bin Nasser Hawasi will be deputy minister for health affairs, while Dr. Mohammed bin Hamza Khoshaim will be the new deputy minister for planning and development.
Under the new system, there will be three undersecretaries and seven assistant undersecretaries, which includes a woman.
Al-Mirghalani said this is the first time a woman is to hold such a portfolio, which, he said, showed that the ministry is encouraging Saudi women to participate in the mainstream activities undertaken by the ministry.
The undersecretaries are Dr. Ziad Al-Memish for public health, Dr. Mohammed Rashid Al-Yamani for planning and health economies, and Dr. Saleh Al-Mazrou for supplies and engineering affairs.
The assistant undersecretaries are Dr. Aqeel bin Jamaan Al-Ghamdi for hospital affairs, Dr. Mohammed bin Omar Ba Sulaiman for primary health care, Ali bin Hussein Al-Zawawi for private health affairs sector, Muneera bint Hamdan Al-Osaimi for medical services affairs, Dr. Mohammed Fouad Zamkasri for planning and training, Ahmed bin Ali Al-Beiss for engineering affairs, and Ibrahim bin Saeed Al-Hafez for supplies and operations.
Dr. Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Wahaibi has been appointed adviser to the health minister and general supervisor for technology administration, information and communication; Affan bin Abboud Al-Qahtani will be director general of the directorate for general resources; and Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Wadei director general for specialized centers and visiting doctors.
Dr. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Rafi will be director general of the department of general dentistry, Dr. Ali bin Fahad Al-Musnad director general of the department of general radiology and applied services, and Anas bin Abdullah Al-Zaid has been appointed director general of the department of public safety.
According to the spokesman, the ministry underwent its first structural program 28 years ago. The new structure was formulated by the ministerial committee for administrative organization under the guidance of the health minister.
The departments of public relations, media, and health education will come under one department, while public administration, rights and patient relations, and public administration for legal affairs will be separate departments.
Under the new setup, the two new deputy ministers will link their operations with the departments through the respective undersecretaries.
Minister Al-Rabeeah urged his officials to offer their maximum cooperation in the implementation of health programs under the new setup. Highlighting the importance of the ministry’s “Patients First” program, the minister said that King Abdullah had said, “Nothing is more important than a patient.”
He said that the whole idea of streamlining the ministry’s functions is to maintain global health standards in proving the best healthcare services to the people by ensuring fair play, equality and accessibility.
