Swedish firm GHP Speciality Care to run Ajman hospitals

Firm said it had secured an initial five-year deal after 'an extensive procurement process' to run public healthcare facilities in the emirate.

A Swedish healthcare company has been chosen by the Government to operate two hospitals in the Northern Emirates.

Yesterday, GHP Speciality Care, which runs the Rashid Centre for Diabetes and Research in Ajman, said it had secured an initial five-year deal after “an extensive procurement process” to run public healthcare facilities in the emirate, which when fully operational would provide care to more than 200,000 patients a year.

The hospitals, Sheikh Khalifa and Masfout General Hospital in Ajman, offer general, emergency, women’s and children’s divisions, the Stockholm-listed company said. Staff recruited for the hospitals will include professionals with experience in Sweden’s healthcare sector, GHP said. It expects to take over the running of the hospitals in the third quarter of next year.

“The Medical Office of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs has chosen GHP in the light of their excellent high-quality management of Rashid Centre for Diabetes and Research and their good reputation and high-quality care in Sweden,” said Abdul Hadi Al Ahbabi, the deputy general manager of the Medical Office of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, which signed the deal.

As part of the agreement GHP will continue to run the diabetes centre. It will also receive a management fee as part of the arrangement, which may be extended for a further five years, it said.

GHP’s chief executive Daniel Öhman said the UAE and its “ambition” to provide the highest quality health care for its citizens appealed to the Swedish company.

“The country has big ambitions for health care and values getting high-quality care,” Mr Öhman said. “This is something we feel we can help provide, given Sweden’s own experience of quality health care.”

GHP has run the Rashid Centre for Diabetes and Research in conjunction with the Ministry of Health since 2010. This year approximately 30,000 patients have been treated at the centre, which includes a globally recognised diabetes laboratory.

An estimated 34 million people live with type II diabetes in the Mena region, and about 19 per cent of the population in the UAE are sufferers. The average global figure is 8.3 per cent.