Saudi German Hospitals to open 300-bed property in Ajman

Saudi German Hospitals Group is expanding its presence in the UAE with a 300-bed facility in Ajman. Set to open in 2017, the 1 million square feet hospital will be its second in the country. The group opened a 315-bed property in Dubai in 2012.

Jeddah-based IHCC will design and fit out the facility in Ajman, which already has six general and speciality hospitals catering to its population of more than 262,000.

Population growth, increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, compulsory healthcare insurance and high returns on investment are leading to increased activity in the sector. This week the Abu Dhabi private equity firm Gulf Capital said it had invested US$25 million in Amana Healthcare, a long-term healthcare provider.

Founded last year, Amana will open its second facility in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa City before the end of the year. It is planning two more facilities, with a total capacity of 160 beds, in Al Ain and Dubai in 2016.

Drake & Scull Engineering (DSE) on Tuesday said it had won an Dh82.5m healthcare project in Abu Dhabi. The company is also developing the Maliha Military Hospital in Sharjah and Danat Al Emarat Women and Children’s Hospital in Abu Dhabi.

“With the projected increase in UAE’s population as a result of the upcoming growth in the real estate sector due to the 2020 Expo, the demand for critical and quality health care is at an all-time high,” said Ahmad Al Naser, DSE’s managing director. But shares in Amanat Holdings, an investment company with a focus on health care and education, have fallen since its debut in Dubai last month. Much of the performance has been attributed to the bearish sentiment for local equities amid falling oil prices.

The UAE’s private hospital sector has been dominated by a handful of home-grown providers including NMC, Al Noor, DM Healthcare and Burjeel.

This year, NMC opened Brightpoint Royal Women’s Hospital with 50 beds in the first phase in the capital and a smaller general hospital in Dubai Investments Park with 30 beds in the initial phase.

It opened its $7 million Al Ain Medical Centre earlier this month. The 250-bed, $200m Khalifa City Hospital, which aims to tap into the growing population in Mussafah, Baniyas and Shahama, is expected to be ready in the first half of next year with 75 beds in the first phase.

With a population of 2 million people, Dubai is increasingly attracting more private investment. Its private healthcare sector will need $1.5 billion by 2020 to provide the required 1,500 new hospital beds, according to a report from Colliers International last month.

The private healthcare sector in the UAE as a whole will require US$2.87bn in the next six years for 2,632 more beds.

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