ABU DHABI // A Dh700 million specialist women and children’s hospital is finally set to open early next year after a string of delays.
The revised date in March comes five years after developers announced plans for the “five-star” medical centre.
Singapore hospital operator Parkway Health planned to open the Danat Al Emarat hospital in 2008, with the site expected to be completed by 2011.
But the original proposal for a 260-bed hospital on 2nd street, in the Capital Gate area, was first rejected because it was too tall.
It also fell short on safety requirements, including the number of fire extinguishers.
Plans have been reworked and the twin-tower hospital will have 150 beds on two floors when it opens. It will later be expanded to include 250 beds.
“We are planning for March next year,” said Cheow Seng Lee, the hospital’s chief executive. “Some of the delays were because of where we are positioned. Height restrictions and other factors meant we were slow to be built.”
When it does open it will be the first specialised hospital exclusively for children under the age of 12 and women in Abu Dhabi.
“We are the first ones to offer this specialised service,” said Mr Lee. “It’s a niche hospital and that niche is women and children.”
The facility will provide services including gynaecology, paediatrics, general surgery, general medicine, maternity, neonatal care and IVF.
A women’s diagnostic and breast centre will also concentrate on the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer – the second-biggest killer of women in the UAE.
Most of the medical staff will be women but there will be some male doctors, Mr Lee said.
The hospital, built to green standards, aims to offer “five-star health care”.
He said the hospital, being built by United Eastern Medical Services, would be one of the most luxurious in the UAE.
“We aim to serve the upmarket population within Abu Dhabi,” Mr Lee said. “One of our main target segments will definitely be Emiratis, but we definitely include expatriates as well.
“We have different kinds of VIP suites, top-of-the-range royal suites.
“At the very heart of our operation is our commitment to providing women and children with the most advanced care, covering a wide range of specialities and programmes.”
Four HealthPlus centres in the surrounding area will serve the hospital, he said, as would a paediatric centre to open next year.
“The centres will feed in to the hospital like a network – literally like a web,” Mr Lee said.
“We recognise that by nurturing women and their children today, we are helping care for tomorrow’s generation.”
jbell@thenational.ae
