The American Medical Center on Monday opened the doors of a new facility in Moscow as part of its long-term plan to improve services at a time when competition between western-style health-care providers is keener than ever.


"Our old building was run down and overcrowded," said Dennis Sokol, chairman of Hospital Corporation International, AMC's parent company. "We did not give the quality of service that we should have because of the facility."


The new offices, which replace those on Shmitovsky Proyezd, take up two floors of a Russian medical diagnostic center located at 10 Vtoraya Tverskoi-Yamskoi Pereulok and cost between $1.5 and $2 million to renovate and outfit, Sokol said.


With seven examination rooms instead of four, medical director Dr. Myles Druckman said the waiting times for patients would be reduced. Ready access to ultrasound, CAT-scan and X-ray equipment in the same building will also improve the lot of patients, he said.


By the end of the year, AMC also hopes to have its own ambulance and pediatrician, Druckman said.


Three other recently opened health clinics are vying for the business of Muscovites able to afford western prices. But Druckman said the changes are not in response to the stiffer competition.