Al-Qahtani is the first woman to hold the position in the history of the council. She is considered to be the second woman at the national level to be named as the secretary-general of a regional council after Dr. Kholoud Al-Khamis, who was appointed secretary-general of Tabuk Region Council.

Dr. Al-Hanouf Al-Qahtani was born Riyadh, and holds a PhD in Emergency Medicine. She previously worked in the Ministry of Health.

Before her new appointment, Dr. Al-Qahtani worked as head of the Ambulance and Emergency Department at the North Medical Tower in Arar. She was also the head of the clinical review department there before moving to the Northern Border Emirate.

Dr. Al-Qahtani holds a fellowship in emergency medicine and accidents, in addition to a master’s degree in health care management from the University of Colorado, USA and Saudi Electronic University.

She holds a professional certificate in Safety, Quality, Health Informatics and Leadership (SQIL) from Harvard University, USA, in addition to a professional certificate in project management from the University of California in Irvine, as well as a professional certificate in Governance and Risk Management.