Model culture of care at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has garnered the trust of over a million patients for the second-year running – a volume that brings in complexity, acuity, and responsibility to a greater extent. As a regional destination for complex care, patients often step into the hospital for surgery and leave with a second chance and lasting health outcomes.

Driven by the vision to be the best place to receive care, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is spearheading medical innovation in the region and beyond, elevating its clinical expertise with cutting-edge technologies that improve outcomes at every stage of a patient’s journey.

“Delivering high-quality, sustainable care is at the heart of everything we do,” says Dr Jeffrey Chapman, Chief Quality Officer at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. “Our eight core medical institutes, several of which are designated Centers of Excellence by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, bring together more than 50 specialties to deliver world-class, complex care to the region and beyond”.

Dr Jeffrey Chapman, Chief Quality Officer at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Supplied Photo

Consistently delivering these outcomes is underpinned by robust and systematic model of care that prioritizes patient safety, quality, and experience. This commitment represents a culture engrained in the way care is delivered, ensuring Zero Harm and empowering caregivers, throughout the patient care pathway to report focus on quality and patient safety. The hospital’s Good Catch program, led by the Quality & Patient Safety is an important part of this process that enhances quality of care delivered through continuous monitoring and improvement.

“Established programs like Zero Harm are more than best practices. They have enhanced patient recovery, early mobility, and medication reconciliation, leading to fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, and safer care,” Dr. Chapman notes.

The hospital’s safety indicators continue to exceed national and international standards. Inpatient falls with injury, central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI), and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), remain well below national benchmarks – a positive indicator of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s relentless focus on zero harm. Hand hygiene compliance exceeds 95%, underscoring a culture where safety is non-negotiable.

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is spearheading medical innovation with cutting-edge technologies that improve outcomes at every stage of a patient’s journey. Supplied Photo

Emergency care, often a critical measure of responsiveness and clinical excellence, is another area where Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi leads. The hospital achieved a stroke door-to-IV thrombolysis within the target time of 60 minutes in 100% of eligible patients. In patients with acute heart attack (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction), door to treatment time was 100% within 90 minutes.

Accolades received by the hospital over the years echo these efforts and cement Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s place as leader in healthcare. In November 2025, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi retained the Joint Commission International (JCI) Gold Seal of Approval for the fourth consecutive cycle since 2016. This is a globally recognized endorsement of the hospital’s ongoing commitment to patient safety and clinical excellence. In nursing, the hospital was the first in the UAE and youngest internationally to receive Magnet accreditation in 2019 and has since maintained the seal of quality.

A view of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi on Al Maryah Island. Supplied Photo

Awards tell only part of the story. At Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, excellence is engineered into every process and embedded in every interaction. Patient trust is earned in the moments that matter, when care is delivered with compassion, when every interaction reflects respect and empathy, and when emergencies are met with unwavering speed and precision. These moments are intentional and never left to chance. Behind every clinical metric is a system, and behind every system is a caregiver committed to safety and unwilling to compromise on quality. At Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, excellence is by design, a promise, not an achievement.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”