Abu Dhabi’s biggest hospital ‘only treating Emiratis’, claim expats

ABU DHABI // Expatriates are being turned away from Sheikh Khalifa Medical City and being told that the emirate’s biggest public hospital will now treat only Emiratis.

Sick children and patients with chronic conditions have been forced to find alternative care because of the new SKMC policy.

One patient, a British expatriate aged 62, said: “We have been told that the hospital will now only treat UAE nationals with Thiqa cards.

“I recently underwent a procedure which involved the removal of samples for biopsy and my follow-up appointment was cancelled.

“I am now unable to get the test results and find out whether the biopsy reveals any serious problem or not. They are potentially having a serious effect on my health, and my life.”

Another expatriate, a British woman aged 39, relied for years on regular appointments at SKMC for treatment for Crohn’s Disease, a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestines.

“I have been admitted four times this past year and have had to have a lot of follow-up clinic appointments within various departments such as endocrinology, surgery, gastroenterology and dermatology,” she said.

The woman received a phone call four weeks ago, just days before a scheduled appointment. “I was basically told my insurance, blue Saico, was no longer accepted and all further appointments cancelled.

“I asked what could I do as I have a long-term illness and need to see my specialist. He just said try Mafraq Hospital.”

Another expatriate said: “My son was recently in and out of SKMC after being treated for car accident injuries. When we returned for his first follow-up visit we were told in reception that as of that very day his other scheduled follow-up visit was cancelled as SKMC was no longer seeing non-nationals except for emergencies. The doctor we saw verified the new policy.”

One expatriate whose daughter had been receiving long-term care at SKMC said: “I received a call from them cancelling all our future appointments as they are no longer accepting non-locals.”

It is thought SKMC’s new policy does not affect expatriate emergency patients, who will continue to be treated. The hospital also still accepts expatriate patients for psychiatric services.

One expatriate received a circular from the health insurance provider, Daman, saying access to SKMC for anyone not holding a Thiqa card was restricted to emergencies and treatment not available anywhere else.

The 586-bed acute-care hospital opened in 2005 and is managed by Seha, the Abu Dhabi Health Services company.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”