Dubai: The Medical Fitness Centre in Karama, which can accommodate more than 2,000 customers per day, was officially opened by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) on Monday.
The centre in Karama has been operational since June 9 following the temporary closure — in the first week June — of the Medical Fitness Centre in Satwa.
The Satwa centre is currently being renovated for expansion that could take up to two years, according to a senior official.
With the Centre in Karama, the DHA now has 17 medical fitness centres.
Located near the Emirates Post Office in Karama, the centre in Karama has thrice the capacity of the centre in Satwa that accommodated 700 customers per day.
Spread over 20,000 sq ft, the centre features state-of-the-art medical facilities and a VIP lounge, children’s play area, coffee shop, and reading area. The Centre was inaugurated in the presence of Engineer Eisa Al Maidour, Director-General of the DHA, Ahmad Rashid Al Merri, Director-General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) and other officials.
The Centre offers only the express service, which has three options — results within four hours, 24 hours or 48 hours. The three options cost Dh690, Dh470 and Dh370, respectively. The regular service costs Dh260.
Since the soft opening, the Karama centre has catered to 1,000 customers per day, Maisa Al Bustani, Director of Medical Fitness at the DHA told Gulf News.
She said that the centre can handle 2,000-5,000 customers per day.
On expansion plans, she that the annual expansion plans in response to the increase in workforce in the emirate and economic growth are on track. And that recent expansion include the Al Quoz medical fitness centre that now caters to 2,000 patients per day whereas a centre in Deira will be opened before the year end.
“A centre in Uptown Mirdrif will be opened within a year to cater to residents requiring pre-employment screening tests for occupational jobs like those of food handlers. The centre in Jebel Ali — only for Jebel Ali employees — will be relocated, increasing capacity from 150 per day to 500,” she said.
Speaking to Gulf News, Al Maidour reiterated the authority’s commitment to increasing capacity while being customer focused.
He said, “We want to raise the bar in terms of service. The focus is on providing medical fitness services along with allied services under one roof. A medical fitness service centre is one of the first few government organisations that a person new to the emirate will visit. We want to ensure high customer satisfaction.”
The centre in Karama is open from 7.30am to 9.30pm Sundays to Thursdays.
