UAE President visits National Children’s Hospital in Washington
Sheikh Mohamed checks on young patients’ progress, briefed on facility’s services
Washington: UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the National Children’s Hospital in Washington D.C. and was briefed on its pioneering work in paediatric surgery and healthcare.
The UAE has been a longtime supporter of the hospital and this latest visit by Sheikh Mohamed reflects a continuous commitment to enhancing the care provided to its young patients. The hospital’s Sheikh Zayed Institute for Paediatric Surgical Innovation was made possible through a $150 million gift from the UAE, and the opening of the Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus was also supported through a further commitment of $30 million.
During the President’s tour, he met with senior officials and medical staff and visited a number of the hospital’s specialist departments. The briefing included details of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Command Centre, which employs sophisticated artificial intelligence techniques to monitor patients and pre-emptively identify critical events such as cardiac arrests. The Command Centre also allows surgeons and cardiologists to provide telemedicine consultations with doctors around the world, including in Abu Dhabi and at the UAE field hospital in Gaza.
Sheikh Mohamed also learned about the latest groundbreaking innovations being developed at the Sheikh Zayed Institute, including a miniature pacemaker designed for babies and infants. He first saw a prototype of the pacemaker in 2019, and today, thanks to the UAE’s investment, the device has been used in over 40 paediatric patients, including five newborns.
The President met with Emirati children receiving treatment at the hospital, speaking with them and their families and checking on their wellbeing and progress. He wished the young patients a speedy recovery and prayed that they would soon be able to return home, emphasising the UAE’s commitment to safeguarding the health of its people.
The children and their families thanked the UAE President for his visit and expressed their gratitude for the care they are receiving.
Sheikh Mohamed was accompanied on the visit by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Advisor for Special Affairs at the Presidential Court; Ahmed Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the President’s Office for Strategic Affairs at the Presidential Court, and Yousef Al Otaiba, Ambassador of the UAE to the United States of America.