American Hospital, UAE

 Each year almost half a billion dollars is pumped into the UAE’s Healthcare system, and the public and private facilities available to the nation’s residents boast the latest in technology, resources and professional expertise.

This was not always the case. Up until a decade ago, healthcare in the UAE was limited to a handful of respectable but over-populated government-run public hospitals and clinics. As the population grew to 1.2 million, so did the demand for Western-equivalent medicine on par with International, namely American, standards.

Ask anyone in town to name the best hospital in Dubai, and the answer would be the American Hospital Dubai. A landmark in the city, The American Hospital Dubai (AHD), a 143 bed acute care, general medical / surgical hospital was established in 1996 and has proven itself to be a leader among private and medical centers in the Emirate.

The Hospital was planned, designed, built and equipped to meet American Standards of Healthcare.

The hospital operates to these standards and all its physicians are North American Board Certified or of equivalent Western training programs, such as those in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Catering to quality medicine, AHD is the first hospital in the Middle East to be accredited by the Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA); a subsidiary of the United States based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare organizations (JCAHO).

This pioneering initiative has not only eased the worries of Dubai’s residents, it has also heralded the creation of a thriving health industry. Projects such as the USD $ 1.8 billion Dubai Healthcare City – the strategic vision of General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of UAE, Ruler of Dubai– seek to strengthen Dubai as a global hub for specialised healthcare and a center for medical education and research. The spearhead for all of this was AHD. Despite the expensive mandate, “AHD is committed to provide American Standard Healthcare with the highest quality of patient care,” says Michael French, CEO.

Eliminating the need to travel abroad for treatment, AHD continued to expand its facilities to include an 180,000 square foot Outpatient Medical Building, to enable the continued expansion of physician specialties, which was opened in September 2006. He adds, “We remain committed to our continuous investment in new technologies, services and American Board Certified or equivalent standard Physicians”.

AHD is a leader in primary and secondary programs that have been expanded into the more complex tertiary programs such as the newly established Cancer Care Centre, as well its Heart Centre, offering the complete spectrum of cardiac care from Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology and the Beating Heart Cardiothoracic surgery. This is in addition to the well established Total Joint Replacement and Diabetes Centres.

The AHD Total Joint Replacement Centre is the first of its kind in the Middle East and the fourth worldwide after similar facilities in Holland, Spain and Britain.

Dr. Samih Tarabichi, the Centre’s Director has performed over 4000 joint replacements and holds two surgical patents used in knee joint replacement.

With a dedicated approach to improving services, “We expect to see more hospitals seeking international accreditations and investment in newer technologies and expertise,” concludes French.