Abu Dhabi: A total of 1,500 patient appointments have been booked at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi since it began making its services available last month (March), Gulf News has learnt.
Four new institutes opened at the hospital on Sunday, allowing patients to seek advice and treatment from specialists in the fields of pain management, neurology, digestive health, urology, nephrology, plastic surgery and dentistry.
The Clinic, which caters to the capital’s most pressing health-care needs, is part of a growing network of medical facilities in the emirate by investment and development company Mubadala. It began its long awaited opening process in March, starting with the Eye Institute that offers care for ophthalmological concerns. Following this, the Medical Subspecialities Institute, which focuses on treating endocrine, internal medicine, blood, infectious and rheumatology disorders, was opened earlier this month.
Diseases related to nephrology and dermatology will also be treated under the Medical Subspecialities Unit from today (April 12). On the other hand, digestive health issues will be seen at Digestive Disease Institute.
Dr Maher A. Abbas, Institute chief at the Clinic, said that digestive illnesses are on the rise in the UAE and internationally due to changes in diet and lifestyle.
“At our clinic, patients can now access advanced medicine that will help them treat and manage these disorders. In fact, our dedicated inflammatory bowel disease programme is the first of its kind in the region, and offers world-class care to patients suffering from related conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis,” he added.
The Neurological Institute is another newly opened unit, and offers advanced care in spinal, pain management, neuromuscular, sleep and epilepsy concerns. Finally, the Surgical Subspecialities Institute is now providing surgeries in the fields of dentistry, plastics and ear-nose-throat conditions.
When fully opened by the end of May, the 364-bed hospital will house more than 30 medical and surgical specialities. It will boast 175 physicians, and over 1,000 nurses and allied health professionals.
Officials had said earlier that outside of its Eye Institute, the Clinic will only provide care to patients over 14 years of age. In addition, it will not offer treatment for orthopaedic, obstetrics and gynaecology conditions, or function as a trauma centre. Instead, the aim is to deliver care within the UAE for complex conditions that typically require patients to travel abroad.
So far, the Clinic only covers Emirati patients, who have access to government-mandated Thiqa insurance, as well as some enhanced insurance plans provided by the National Health Insurance Company (Daman) to expatriate residents. But talks are ongoing with other companies to offer treatment to patients covered by additional medical insurance plans.
