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Dubai Healthcare City second phase launched

Our Bureau, MumbaiThursday, October 19, 2006, 08:00 Hrs  [IST]

The Dubai Health Care City (DHCC) has unveiled the second phase of its developments, backed by an investment of Dhs. 4 billion, and covering a total area of 19 million sq feet. The second phase of DHCC will include various elements of wellness facilities, in addition to hospitals, clinical centres and institutions, and a residential complex. It will be divided into six zones - Clinical, Healthcare Mixed Use, Long Term Care, Spa Resorts, Canal Residence and Town Centre and Clinical Villas. The Clinical Zone will house hospitals, outpatient clinics, a 5 star hotel and post graduate healthcare higher education programs. The Healthcare Mixed Use zone will house facilities for an array of non-clinical services and the Long Term Care is dedicated to healthcare attention for extended periods of time and will include nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. The luxury Spa Resorts will be managed by specialist international spa operators Canal Residence and Town Centre will primarily accommodate medical students and faculty from DHCC. The two storey Clinical Villas, available on leases, will accommodate conventional and complementary medicine clinics. The project is located on the shores of the Dubai Creek next to Al Wasl Hospital on Oud Metha Road. According to Ahmad Sharaf, Senior Vice President for Energy and Healthcare at Tatweer emphasised that the main goal is to provide patients in the region with an opportunity to live a balanced life, removed from anxiety, trauma and various diseases. "Our aim is to provide a complete suite of wellbeing services to complement the facilities for acute care already available in the first phase. The healthcare facilities and services provided in the second phase will bridge the gap between physical health in its conventional sense and general health in its global context," he stated. Work at the two phases complement each other in line with the strategic vision of DHCC to establish an integrated centre, as per the international standards of healthcare. DHCC encompass a large, yet continuously growing community of medical and non-medical professionals, and a cluster of clinical and retail facilities. Currently, it has 17 clinical facilities, 22 business offices and 11 retail outlets operating from both the newly named Ibn Sina buildings (DHCC 4 buildings) and Nashaet building. The retail outlets include seven food outlets, two banks, a travel desk and a pharmacy. There are 760 professionals working at DHCC, of which 95 are DHCC employees, and 133 are physicians and other members of the medical fraternity. These physicians have recorded a total of 14,000 patient visits to date. Moving ahead, DHCC has over 22 buildings under construction, including a five star hotel, the Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) building and the Johnson & Johnson building. Seven projects are also on the design board. Nashaet, the first developers' building at DHCC, has fast become a hub of activity since opening earlier this year. Wyeth Pharmaceutical, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, has relocated its head quarters from the Dubai Airport Free Zone. The German Heart Centre, a world-renowned cardiology centre originally from Bremen, Germany, is now represented in Dubai with a full operative unit and invasive clinic. Lloyds TSB, has opened their third branch in the UAE to DHCC, a special customer service centre conveniently located to serve the healthcare community. The Fetal Medicine and Genetic Screening Centre, headed by Sharjah's well-known gynaecologist Dr Pourmirza, has also relocated to the DHCC. Apart from this, the DHCC and the UAE Ministry of Health (MOH) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will enhance cooperation between the two organizations in developing the UAE's healthcare workforces, and in providing improved healthcare services. The MoU was signed recently by HE Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, the UAE Minister of Health, and Saeed Al Munta?q, CEO of Tatweer. Both organisations will work together to develop an integrated electronic healthcare system through joint consulting services provided by DHCC and the Harvard Medical School Dubai Centre. Other ?elds of collaboration include developing health and medical education, initiating fellowship programs and training for physicians, establishing an advanced centre for medical research, re-evaluating healthcare regulations, facilitating the use of modern technologies, developing therapeutic treatments, and organizing industry forums and exhibitions. Further, the Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research was formally launched at DHCC earlier this year, in collaboration between Harvard Medical School and Dubai Healthcare City. The Foundation aims to create new generations of scientists and health care professionals who will make groundbreaking discoveries that change the way medicine is practiced- not only in the Gulf region, but throughout the world. Various programs will be implemented through Harvard Medical School in Boston and the Harvard Medical School Dubai Centre Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research (HMSDC).

 
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