World-class health city takes shape
The first facilities within the prestigious Dubai Healthcare City are set to open shortly.
01 March 2005
THE ambitious Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) – the world’s first healthcare free zone – is set to inaugurate its first outpatient facilities shortly.
The project, a Dubai Holding entity, is being developed at a cost of $3 billion over two phases.
“The vision of the DHCC is to become the internationally-recognised location of choice for quality healthcare and an integrated centre of excellence for clinical and wellness services, medical education and research,” says chief sales and marketing officer of DHCC, Omar Al Shunnar.
The project comprises three main elements:
• An academic medical centre – encompassing a university teaching hospital, the Harvard Medical School Dubai Center Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research, and a Research Foundation;
• A medical cluster – comprising outpatient day clinics, pharmaceuticals and equipment, private hospitals and transplant, rehabilitation and diagnostic centres; and
• A wellness cluster, which will offer sports medicine, nutrition and a health farm, as well as include the development of spas and rehabilitation facilities.
Combined, the facilities at DHCC will ultimately provide services including cardiology, oncology and diabetes, as well as preventive and other health maintenance services.
The first phase, located behind Wafi City, Dubai, covers an area of 4.1 million sq ft and has been completely sold out. It has a total capacity of 1,000 beds, which includes hospitals specialised in paediatrics, gynaecology, oncology, cardiology, diabetes, cosmetic surgeries, ophthalmology and orthopaedics based on the criteria that the Center for Healthcare Planning and Quality (CPQ) has set to ensure quality delivery of healthcare services.
The second phase, dedicated to wellness facilities, will be four times bigger than Phase I - both in terms of size and investments. Approximately 90 per cent of the planning for Phase II is complete and investment opportunities in this phase will be put on offer shortly,” says Al Shunnar.
Phase II, which is attracting a large number of establishments, will include centres for rehabilitation, nursing, obesity and nutrition, alternative medicine and pharmaceutical companies. Several contracts have been signed with leading companies in these fields and will help position the city as the gateway to the world.
He continues: “The first medical facility will be ready to fully start operating soon and the first patient can be accepted by the end of the first quarter. DHCC’s services and facilities will be available to the UAE, the whole of the Middle East, and surrounding regions. Under the auspices of the CPQ, Harvard Medical International and DHCC will oversee a quality assurance system that will guide continuous improvement throughout the entire site.'
“By 2010, we foresee more than 20,000 patients visiting the healthcare facilities in the region and this would include 1,500 to 2,000 inpatients,” says Al Shunnar. The centre will also have a healthcare hotel with a capacity of 1,000 residents, which will provide accommodation tailored for the patients’ families,” he adds.
“The project, once operational will seek to create a regional center of excellence for medical services, medical education, and life science research and development in the Middle East,” says Al Shunnar.
A strong indicator of how the center would develop over the years can be seen from the number of people who have registered to set up base within the DHCC. More than 30 per cent of doctors and Arab researchers already registered at DHCC are from overseas, especially from Western Europe and North America, he says.
DHCC has invited internationally respected institutions in health care delivery, education, services, and research and development to collocate on the site to take advantage of the synergies brought about by physical proximity, interconnectivity, and professional collaboration. Medical centres in Britain, Germany, and the US have expressed interest in participating in DHCC, with particular interest directed to the academic medical center component. The DHCC tenants will have to meet international building standards and quality healthcare standards, including accreditation within 36 months of start-up, and will face probation and then suspension of license if accreditation is not forthcoming. The licensing and quality management processes and decision-making have been delegated by DHCC to autonomous boards with international representation.
Some of the world’s most prestigious institutions that have shown an interest or have already signed partnership agreements include the Harvard Medical School, AstraZeneca and Mayo Clinic.
