Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group plans to invest Dh400 million (US$108.9m) to build a multi-speciality hospital inside Dubai's Healthcare City free zone.
The group was one of the first healthcare providers to start operating a medical centre in the free zone.
The funds are part of about 4.5 billion Saudi riyals (Dh4.4bn) the company said it planned to spend on health-related projects within the Gulf. Some 1.2bn riyals have been earmarked for development in Saudi Arabia, where the company is based.
"We're doing really well. Now is the time to open something big, because we have the confidence in the [UAE] market," said Dr Sulaiman Al Habib, the chairman of the medical group, on the sidelines of the Arab Health conference in Dubai, which ends on Thursday.
Construction of the hospital is set to begin as early as the spring. Dr Sulaiman said once the hospital was up and running, which would take about two years to complete, his company's facilities in the Emirates would aim to treat about 2,000 patients a day.
That is up from an average of about 800 patients a day at its medical centre in Dubai.
Separately, CareFusion, a medical devices and products company, detailed expansion plans within the region on the sidelines of Arab Health yesterday.
CareFusion, which generated $844m during its most recent quarter and is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has opened a new office in Dubai that is five times the size of its previous location.
As it tries to expand its reach through the Middle East, as well as North Africa and India, it aims to increase its regional office from three to 10 employees, who will travel throughout the region, it said. "Dubai is so ideally based and it's got such great logistics and infrastructure - it was a logical choice," said Ian Milburn, the regional director for the Middle East and India region at CareFusion. The company plans for a formal opening of its new office next month.
