Dubai: Severine Pinto proudly held the certificate in Arabic presented to her yesterday by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and President of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA).
The Indian expatriate from Mangalore, India, was with her daughter at a felicitation ceremony at the Zabeel Ladies Club.
She was among the 87 employees who received a certifcate of thanks for having served with the DHA for 35 years.
Pinto said she thought her job of serving the sick and needy was important. It has given me satisfactuon, she said.
Her daughter, Sharal, said she was proud of her mother, “though there were times she was with her patients and we missed her at home,” she said. This apparently happened when her mother worked the night shift.
The daughter has not followed in her mother’s footsteps and instead works at a bank. “My mother is kind-hearted,” she said, hinting that it is an attribute one must have to be a nurse.
Severine later shared the dais with the former director-generals of the DHA who were also felicitated.
Among the top former officials on the dais was Dr Juma Khalfan Bel Houl. He described his tenure as the first director-general of the then DOHMS (Department of Health and Medical Services) as “exciting”. Shaikh Hamdan gave us full authority to develop the health sector, he said.
Later, when he left the government service, Dr Bel Houl went on to open a private hospital.
Eisa Al Maidour, Director-General of the DHA, said he was grateful to the employees who have contributed to the success of the DHA.
“Human resources is in many ways the heart of the health sector and we thank every long-standing employee for their contribution to the development of the health sector. Their dedication, ideas and efforts have contributed to the development of this sector,” he said.
Al Maidour thanked Shaikh Hamdan for felicitating the staff of the DHA who laid the foundation of health care in Dubai.
Al Maidour said in line with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2013-2025, the health sector will witness major developments in the coming years.
The DHA health regulation department has granted this year 130 new facility licences and 5,208 professional licences, adding to the facilities and manpower in the health sector.
Presently Dubai has 25 hospitals (21 in the private sector). Additionally, 18 new private hospitals are being built in Dubai.
