741-bed hospital to open in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: One of the UAE’s largest hospitals, the Shaikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC), will open its doors on November 3, senior officials have announced in the capital.

The 30,000 square-metre public facility in Al Mafraq area will replace the 380-bed Al Mafraq Hospital, providing 741 beds for inpatient care across multiple specialities. In addition, the facility will be able to see more than 2,500 outpatients a day.

During a media tour, officials said the hospital will welcome both Emirati and expat patients, regardless of their insurance package.

“With our advanced standards, we also hope to attract patients from across the Gulf region,” said Saeed Al Kuwaiti, head of activation committee at the SSMC.

Hospital plans

Plans to construct the massive, billion-dollar hospital were first announced in 2011, and works very finally completed in 2018.

The hospital will be run by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), the emirate’s public healthcare provider.

There are now four towers at SSMC– each with five to seven medical floors, in addition to a two-storey outpatient building and an administrative building.

Like Al Mafraq Hospital, SSMC will continue to specialise in trauma care and burns treatment.

Medical specialities

“At Al Mafraq, we treat between 180 to 200 trauma patients a month, and 60 per cent of our surgeries are trauma-related. At SSMC, we will continue to see just as many trauma patients, if not more. The hospital plans to be certified as Centre of Excellence for trauma care,” said Dr Ateq Al Musabi, deputy chief medical officer and chief of surgery and trauma at SSMC.

As part of the phased opening plan, SSMC will open its adult cardiology, adult neurology, gastrointestinal, ophthalmology and ENT outpatient clinics on November 3. Later that month, other outpatient clinics providing care in urology, surgery, infectious diseases, nephrology, internal medicine, pulmonary and sleep medicine and endocrinology will open up.

“By the first week of January 2020, SSMC will take in all Mafraq Hospital’s inpatients,” said Dr Abdul Qader Al Musabi, deputy chief medical officer at SSMC.

New features

The hospital is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2020, and boasts 18 operating theatres, as well as 26 beds in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“At Al Mafraq, our extent of paediatric and neonatal care was limited, but this will be a major focus at SSMC. Enhanced care will also be available in gastroenterology, including a motility clinic, and there will be a sleep clinic to support pulmonary and sleep medicine treatment,” Al Musabi said.

In addition to an automatic pharmacy, SSMC will also have the first robotic surgery unit in an Abu Dhabi public hospital, equipped with a Da Vinci surgical system.

Al Kuwaiti said that in the future, the healthcare facility hopes to offer mental health services, as well as go on to extend the level and type of oncological care.

Shaikh Shakhbout Medical City

Located in Al Mafraq area

741 inpatient beds

4 medical towers and 1 outpatient building

30,000 square metres

Opening on November 3

2,500 outpatients per day