New Aster DM hospital for Qatar

Dubai’s Aster DM Healthcare group will expand in Qatar this year with a 50-bed hospital as the private sector plays a greater role in Arabian Gulf countries’ health market.

The hospital in Doha, branded Aster, is almost complete, according to the company but the exact date of opening was not available. The group entered the country in 2003 and has seven Aster clinics and six Aster pharmacies there.

Last month, it opened its largest Medcare hospital in Sharjah with 120 beds.

The group had 419 beds in the UAE at the end of the first quarter, compared with 213 beds at the end of last year, as it also expanded existing facilities. It employed 2,081 full-time doctors, 6,159 nurses and 3,730 paramedics at the end of January.

As oil prices have stayed low for the past two years, Gulf countries have been encouraging private-sector participation in their economies, including in health care, to slow the pace of rising costs. In the UAE, Health Authority – Abu Dhabi changed its health insurance coverage last year making some procedures expensive for some patients.

“The law has been designed to make sure that the entire system is sustainable and everyone has access to quality care at all times and we are aligned with UAE’s vision,” said Azad Moopen, Aster DM Healthcare’s chairman and managing director. “The Government has ensured that there are affordable packages in the market.”

The sector in the UAE got a boost when the Government announced that healthcare companies can reclaim value added tax they will pay on goods and services they purchase. That would also mean the companies do not need to pass on the extra cost of VAT to the consumers.

“Price rises in the industry can be determined by rising market and operational costs as well as the need to retain the best available talents,” Mr Moopen said. “We do not see taxes alone as an immediate factor for an increase in healthcare price rates for 2018.”

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