Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi recorded more than 583,500 patient encounters, more than 50,000 Emergency Department visits, around 9,500 patient admissions, and in excess of 16,000 surgical cases in 2018.

The average daily census of patients increased by 30 per cent year-on-year, while outpatient visits exceeded 508,000, an increase of 25 per cent year-on-year, the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi said in the third edition of its ‘State of the Clinic’ annual report.

More than 1,600 patients were transferred to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi from UAE and international hospitals in 2018, and the hospital treated patients from 93 countries.

Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, chairman of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, deputy Group CEO of Mubadala and chief executive officer, Alternative Investments and Infrastructure, said: “As part of Mubadala’s network of healthcare providers, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is playing a vital role in developing and sustaining new services in areas where our community most needs support. In particular, the hospital is offering complex care and treatments for which patients have traditionally travelled abroad, delivering a global standard of care closer to home.”

Recording major milestones for the community

One of the most significant milestones of 2018 was the creation of the UAE’s first and only multi-organ transplant facility, which conducted kidney, heart, liver, and lung transplantations during the year. In total, the hospital conducted 35 transplant operations as of December 31, 2018.

Other innovations included the UAE’s first percutaneous mitral valve replacement operation, the launch of the first robotic colorectal surgery in the region, the first team in the Middle East to use state-of-the-art flow diverting stent SILK Vista for cerebral aneurysms, the first use of endoscopic minimally-invasive orbital surgery in the UAE, and the first team in the UAE to use cryotherapy in the lung for biopsy and tumour ablation.

In addition, the hospital launched a medical oncology program in 2018, receiving more than 1,000 cancer outpatient visits.

Dr Rakesh Suri, CEO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, said: “Listening to our patients, and understanding their needs, has enabled us to evolve and improve rapidly. The hospital achieved important regional and global medical firsts in 2018, including pioneering the use of minimally invasive technology for high-risk heart patients, expanding the range of robotic surgical procedures, and becoming the UAE’s first multi-organ transplant facility.”

“Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi caregivers were recognized as distinguished leaders in their specialties, publishing landmark research and generating new medical inventions and patents. We also expanded our clinic timings, enhanced our mobile and online channels to make it easier to book appointments, and worked with insurance partners to provide access to our high-quality healthcare for significantly more patients,” he added.

Building a sustainable healthcare sector

In 2018, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi employed 346 physicians, an increase of 4 per cent over 2017. Throughout the year, 94 per cent of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi physicians received a four or five-star rating in outpatient surveys.

Recruiting, developing and retaining talented UAE Nationals across the hospital continued to be a top priority throughout the year. The proportion of UAE National caregivers within the total employee population reached 19.1 per cent by the end of 2018.

As part of its strategy to transform physician education in the region, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi’s successfully established and initiated a residency program in 2018. Residencies provide an opportunity for physicians to specialize in their chosen fields of medicine under the supervision and guidance of fully-qualified physicians.

The hospital also signed new agreements with insurance providers, as part of its efforts to enable more people access to complex and critical healthcare services.

In December 2018, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi was named as one of the ‘UAE Pioneers’ during a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi. – TradeArabia News Service