Abu Dhabi funds new Dh735 million Bahrain heart hospital

Medical centre has 148 beds and 50 medical departments offering specialist care to adults and children

The Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Cardiac Specialist Centre in Bahrian will become a hub for specialist care. The National

Heart doctors at a new hospital in Bahrain – the Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Cardiac Specialist Centre – are hoping to attract patients from across the Gulf.

The centre, which was funded by the UAE, will have 148 beds compared with just 60 at a previous clinic. It was inaugurated on Monday.

We would like to attract patients from across the region and all the Gulf countries

Child and adult patients will be treated in the specialist clinic, which houses surgical and cardiac facilities. It has an outpatient capacity of 14 rooms, more than double the old hospital's six.

The centre near Manama was financed by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development with a grant of Dh735 million, and  will open shortly once its computer  systems are operational.

"We are proud to have this centre that will be one of the largest in the Middle East," said Dr Leena Al Sulaibeekh, a consultant cardiologist.

“It will be an intelligent hospital and a centre for technology with the most modern equipment available.

“There is a big radiology department with the best scanners for MRI, with 3D echo-scanning machines.

“We had just one operating room in the old hospital, but this new building has two, and a third hybrid operating room.

“This will allow us to have surgery and cardiac catheterisation under way at the same time, which is quite unusual.”

The Abu Dhabi fund is financing several development projects in co-operation with Bahrain's government to stimulate growth in the country.

Bahrain was one of the first nations in which the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development began its work in 1974.

Since then, the aid agency has provided about Dh19.5 billion to finance 29 projects across several sectors, including housing, water, health and transport.

The new heart centre was built on an area of 53,000  square metres and is the keystone of several strategic projects involving Bahrain and the UAE.

Hospital chiefs hope to attract complicated cardiac cases from the region, because their respected consultants now have access to world-class facilities.

"Our cardiac centre is known for its reputation and we have been serving heart patients from the  Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia for the last 20 years or so," Dr Al Sulaibeekh said.

“We would like to attract patients from across the region and all the Gulf countries.

“We are happy to serve them.”

Covid-19 in Bahrain

Medical staff are seen in the newly-inaugurated intensive care unit for Covid-19 patients at the Bahrain Defense Force Hospital in Riffa in April, 2020. AFP

A man wearing protective gloves checks the app "Be Aware", launched by Bahrain's health authorities to contain the coronavirus disease by spreading awareness and sharing updates on the situation. Reuters

A Bahraini man wears a protective face mask following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, as he shops at a vegetables market. Reuters

A grocery store displays protective masks for sale amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the old marketplace of the Bahraini capital Manama. AFP

A Bahraini police officer instructs a foreign shop vendor to wear his protective mask amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the old market place of the Bahraini capital Manama. AFP

A Bahraini police officer instructs foreign workers on proper self-protection measures amid the Covid-19 pandemic in the old marketplace of the capital Manama. AFP

A Bahraini police officer instructs foreign workers to wear protective gear amid the Covid-19 pandemic, in the old marketplace of the capital Manama. AFP

Expatriated workers carrying out road project development sanitise their hands as they shift between work sites in Aali village. AFP

Expatriated workers have their temperatures checked while carrying out road project development in Aali village south of the Bahraini capital. AFP

Fully equipped beds are seen in a makeshift ICU dubbed the Field Intensive Care Unit 1 set up by Bahraini authorities to treat the coronavirus disease at a car-park of Bahrain Defence Force Hospital in Riffa. Reuters

Medical staff are seen in the newly-inaugurated intensive care unit for Covid-19 patients at the Bahrain Defense Force Hospital in Riffa. AFP

Doctors and nurses are seen doing their final check on the equipment in a makeshift ICU dubbed the Field Intensive Care Unit 1 set up by Bahraini authorities to treat the coronavirus disease. Reuters