Mubadala moving health care forward with spinal centre



Mubadala Healthcare is completing construction on a spinal-care centre this year in the capital.

The news comes as the company seeks to capture more medical business from patients who would otherwise travel abroad for treatment.

The centre, which will be located in the Arzanah Medical Complex near Zayed Sports City, will include 45 beds for inpatients, a dedicated operating theatre plus rehabilitation facilities. Known as the Wooridul Spine Centre, it will be larger than the Dubai facility with the same name.

"In statistics released by the Health Authority Abu Dhabi, spine surgery is listed as the third most prevalent reason for sending patients abroad for treatment," said Suhail Mahmood Al Ansari, executive director of Mubadala Healthcare.

Mubadala Healthcare is a unit of Mubadala Development, a strategic investment company owned by the Abu Dhabi Government.

Mubadala Healthcare says long-term, specialised facilities such as the new Wooridul Spine Centre will help cut the number of patients who are travelling abroad for niche treatments, and build business for the local healthcare sector.

The medical services market is projected to hit Dh31 billion (US$8.43bn) this year, up 8.6 per cent from last year, according to data from Business Monitor International.

"Mubadala Healthcare's strategy is to address the region's most prevalent healthcare issues and reduce the need for patients to travel abroad for treatment," Mr Al Ansari said.

The company held assets of Dh3bn last year within its healthcare segment, which accounted for 1.6 per cent of its total assets.

It would not disclose its investment in the Wooridul project, or how many patients it might serve.

The Wooridul Spine Centre in Dubai started taking patients after it opened last year.

The facility opened in partnership with Mubadala Healthcare, which wholly owns it, and Wooridul Spine Hospital, which is based in South Korea and has a network of centres in South Korea, China and South East Asia.

Dubai's centre specialises in minimally invasive surgeries and also seeks to cater to local patients who tend to seek certain treatment, such as surgery and therapy, abroad for spinal injuries.

It features three surgeons from Wooridul Spine Hospital in South Korea.

The Dubai centre is one of just three areas of collaboration between Mubadala and the Dubai Health Authority, according to a memorandum of understanding the pair signed in April.

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