The board of directors of United Eastern Medical Services (UEMedical) announced the second phase of the expansion project of Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women and Children in Abu Dhabi.

The second phase includes the construction of a new tower with a capacity of 100 beds, at a total cost of AED300 million. The new tower will be adjacent to the current hospital building located in Abu Dhabi Gate City and will be operational by mid 2020.

H.E. Mohamed Hamad Al Hameli, Undersecretary of Department of Health Abu Dhabi (DOH) said, “The Department of Health supports expansions of services and operational facilities that are aligned with the current market needs and in line with the capacity gaps study that was published by DOH recently which identifies the most needed medical services in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.”

He added that the second phase of Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women and Children will be a new addition to women and children healthcare services, increasing the overall capacity of beds, especially number of advanced NICU beds, as well as bringing in pediatrics subspecialties and improving the services provided to women and children in the Emirate.

Mr Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, CEO and Managing Director of UEMedical said “Construction will begin in the next three months, adding that with the completion of the second tower, the total number of hospital beds will increase to 225 beds covering various specialties. With that, UEMedical's assets will increase to 2.5 billion AED. The design project has been awarded to the renowned American architectural firm HKS, who designed the existing tower of Danat Al Emarat in addition to Amar Golden Design.

He pointed out that the expansion project of Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women and Children followed detailed studies in cooperation with the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, identifying specialties needed, capacity gaps and beds required especially in the fields of pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology.

“Danat Al Emarat Hospital is considered as a referral center for high-risk pregnancies, encompassing a full fledge department of fetal medicine, level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, pediatric surgery and pediatrics subspecialties needed for newborns and older children up to adolescence such as pediatric cardiology, speech language therapy, pediatric allergy and more. The hospital also encompasses an advanced center for women's laparoscopy and minimally invasive gynecology surgery; and a Bariatric and Metabolic Center, specialties that are highly needed," he said.

He added that such an expansion comes in line with the growing interest in maternal and child healthcare services, which are highly supported by H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, GWU, President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, FDF.

“With the completion of the second phase and the operation of the new building, the number of beds at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will be doubled to 40 beds equipped to the highest international standards. Pediatric subspecialties including pediatric orthopedics, pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric pulmonology and pediatric neurology, in collaboration with the renowned The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Canada, will be further expanded,” Mr Al Shorafa further added.

“We have considered expanding services and departments that are high in demand, taking into consideration the agreements we have signed recently with international medical institutions such as SickKids, which require providing new specialties and increasing the number of beds in some specialties. Overall, 50 new beds will be added for children in the new tower besides our current pediatric ward, in addition to further expanding our Pediatric ICU to 10 PICU beds.”

He avowed that the new expansion of the hospital also includes the addition of 50 new beds for women, in addition to adding new service lines for women. Moreover, 3 new digital operating rooms will be added bringing the total number of operating rooms to 8 rooms; and 10 additional delivery rooms will also be opened making the total number of delivery rooms 20.

Mr. Al Shorafa pointed out that these expansions will be accompanied by an increase in the number of medical and technical staff recruiting over 500 new employees including 100 doctors in different specialties and 200 nurses who would join during the final stages of the project. He noted that, after the second phase, the hospital is expected to attract over 50 thousand new female patients, and children, which currently cares for more than 100 thousand registered patients since it first opened in October 2015.

Source: www.arabianbusiness.com