The multi-billion dollar Jaber Hospital currently under construction in Kuwait seeks to assuage the issue of overcrowding in the nation’s hospitals. The enormous hospital will provide 1,168 beds to the sick, but on one condition: that the hospitals infirm are local Kuwaitis. What’s more is that the hospital will be staffed mostly by internationals – non-Kuwaitis who will not have access to the health care they will be providing.
According to an official statement by Kuwaiti health minister Dr. Ali al-Abeidi, the massive Jaber hospital will cater only to Kuwaiti citizens in an attempt to mitigate the overcrowding and long wait times that plague the small Gulf nation's overtaxed health care system. Al-Abeidi, as quoted in the Kuwait Times, mentiones that hospital will feature an international team in order to “to guarantee a more ideal way to manage this international hospital”.
The government’s decision to restrict migrants, expatriates, and other non-Kuwaitis from receiving medical care in its new state-of-the-art, “international” facility has become a controversial topic in the region, with many Kuwaitis in full support of the decision to treat patients based on nationality and, while other Kuwaits are outraged.
On Twitter, the hashtag #مستشفى_جابر_للكويتيين_فقط (Jaber Hospital for Kuwaitis Only) has been trending, with some users expressing their disapproval of the decision:
السؤال:
— د. فواز الجدعي (@Dr_fawazAljidie) June 27, 2016
ما هو شعور الطبيب الأجنبي الذي يعالج الكويتيين وهو يعلم أنه لا يحق له تلقي العلاج في نفس المستشفى!#مستشفى_جابر_للكويتيين_فقط
“Question:
How does the foreign doctor who treats Kuwaits feel when he knows that he doesn’t have the right to receive treatment at the same hospital!?”
أغلب المؤيدين للقرار كانوا ينتقدون التمييز والعنصرية واليوم أخرجوا "دونالد ترامب" اللي داخلهم ..!
— ۆلـيـد الـفـواز (@W_alfawaz) June 27, 2016
#مستشفى_جابر_للكويتيين_فقط
“Most of the people who support this decision were once critical of prejudice and racism, but today they let out their inner Donald Trump!”
Others were for the decision, citing the presence of other hospitals and clinics in the country.
المستوصفات مفتوحه للوافدين
والمستشفيات ايضا مفتوحه للوافدين
انك تخصص واحد فقط تميز فيه مواطنيك لا يعد عنصرية
#مستشفي_جابر_للكويتيين_فقط— بن بودي (@K_Boodai) June 28, 2016
“Clinics are open for non-Kuwaitis, the hospitals are also open for non-Kuwaitis. Making one just for Kuwaiti citizens is not racist.”
#مستشفي_جابر_للكويتيين_فقط
— مـدريـدي (@Farsala7lam) June 27, 2016
انا مو كويتي .. لكن بصراحه القرار سليم ١٠٠٪
دام في مستشفيات ثانيه تخدم باقي الفئات .. ف القرار مافي اي مشكله !
"I’m not Kuwaiti… but honestly the decision is %100 sound. The other hospitals will always take the [non-Kuwaitis], so there’s no problem with the decision."
The Jaber hospital is set to open sometime in the next few years and will be the largest medical facility in Kuwait.
