As the old saying goes: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
In 1965, Kassem Alom, a young Syrian student, embarked on a seven-day boat journey from Beirut to Barcelona. That gruelling trip (“I’ve never been on a boat since,” he says) was the start of a journey that led eventually to the foundation of Al Noor Hospitals group, one of the region’s leading medical businesses with a listing on the London Stock Exchange worth £1.2 billion (Dh7.22bn).
In the process, Mr Alom became a multimillionaire, but more importantly laid one of the keystones of the modern medical care system in the UAE, which now is looking to expand to other markets in the GCC.
That is some voyage, but Mr Alom will not be at the helm for the final leg. He hands over the role of chief executive at the end of this month to an experienced professional in the medical field. Now is the time for him to reflect on the Al Noor story, the challenges overcome and those still to be met.
“The basic concept back then, and throughout my time at the business, has been a focus on quality and ethics, and to treat the patient as family. I will continue to help the company as vice chairman, especially with international strategy, and of course my family will be closely involved with the future of Al Noor.”
Mr Alom’s 34-year-old son Sami, who played a big part in the preparations for the London listing, will continue in the post of chief strategy officer, assisting the new chief executive, Ron Lavater, who has been signed after five years at Abu Dhabi’s Corniche Hospital.
But that is to jump ahead. After the trans-Mediterranean crossing nearly 50 years ago, Mr Alom trained and qualified in Madrid, spent some time practicing in London (he is a member of the Royal Society of Medicine), then headed back to Damascus, where a local doctor had originally inspired him to a career in medicine.
The UAE link happened almost by chance. “I had a patient who invited me to Dubai, I made some friends in Abu Dhabi and saw the need for a new medical system there. There were only 90 doctors registered in the emirate then.”
One of the people he met in Abu Dhabi was Sheikh Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed, then chairman of the capital’s municipality and the Ruler’s representative in the Western Region. He remains a key ally, and a major shareholder, in the business.
An alliance between a medical expert and a powerful Emirati national is perhaps the basic business model for many of the UAE’s medical companies. “It brings clinical skill together with political capital,” says Mr Alom.
The first hospital was an eight-bed operation on Hamdam Street in central Abu Dhabi, but it was soon clear that demand was far greater.
“Arabic-speaking doctors were at a premium, and we had to hire more, provide in and outpatient facilities and move to bigger premises, but always the demand was greater. At Khalifa Street, the next clinic, I anticipated 400 patients, but ended up with 1,200,” he says.
Subsequent expansion followed in Al Ain, with a 50-bed hospital. “From the beginning, the focus has been on the local population, and on the higher income segment of society. This is how we are distinguished from other local operators. And we believe we offer higher standards, comparable with western hospitals.”
Specialisms were essential for the specific medical problems of the region. “We used to bring in specialists from the West, but now we can provide all those specialism in-house: cardiac, neuro, paediatric and oncology. There are also bariatric surgery facilities at the Airport Road campus. Cancer is a major concern in the world, of course, but it has a high incidence in the UAE,” he explains.
A chunk of the proceeds – nearly US$25 million – from the London IPO went on the purchase of the Gulf International Cancer on the outskirts of the capital.
“Then there are the lifestyle diseases, chronic obesity, diabetes, hypertension, which are very expensive to treat and which really require an education programme by the authorities, which they are doing now,” Mr Alom explains.
“Cosmetic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery are all growing specialisms, as is fertility treatment. We were the first to open a fertility unit in 1993, because I’d seen how it was done in the UK. Now we have a 60 per cent success rate in fertility treatment, compared with 36 per cent internationally,” he adds.
A major boost to the business was the introduction of compulsory medical insurance in Abu Dhabi in 2007, but the game-changing move was the listing on the London market in July last year. It raised £221m (Dh1.33 billion) and has given Al Noor deep pockets and leverage to fund the next stages of development of a business that now employs 4,500 people, including 550 doctors in three hospitals and 15 medical centres
One founder shareholder, Ithmar Capital, recently sold down an £88m chunk of shares, but remains a 20 per cent holder. “That was to be expected. They are a private equity company. At the moment there is no intention on the founder to sell shares,” Mr Alom says.
Sami Alom adds: “We have $150m available for expansion, so if we come across a ‘transformational opportunity’ we have debt or equity options.” With the Abu Dhabi market “becoming mature”, those opportunities are likely to be focused outside, in Dubai (where Al Noor recently bought a clinic in Jumeirah), Sharjah, and in the wider GCC – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
It seems the Al Noor voyage is only halfway through.
