US healthcare firm behind plan for specialised hospital

United Eastern Medical and the Hospital for Special Surgery may team up to bring a orthopaedic and rheumatology facility to the capital.

ABU DHABI // A leading healthcare company is involved in plans for a hospital in Abu Dhabi. United Eastern Medical has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York with the aim of establishing an orthopaedic and rheumatology facility in the capital. UEMedical is conducting a feasibility study, with input from the hospital, on how best to set up a hospital and in what areas to specialise.

It would include experts in joint replacement, spinal surgery, sports medicine, orthopaedic trauma, hand surgery, foot and ankle surgery, and rheumatology. UEMedical is considering running the hospital under the HSS brand. "We will examine the clinical services best suited for our market that would be consistent with the high standards, procedures and outstanding clinical outcomes for which HSS is known worldwide," said Mohammed al Shorafa, the managing director and chief executive of UEMedical.

Louis Shapiro, the president and chief executive of the HSS, said demand for orthopaedic and rheumatology treatments, as well as for arthritis and sports-related injuries, was growing rapidly. "In our feasibility study we will look at the viability of a new orthopaedic healthcare facility serving Abu Dhabi as well as the surrounding region," he said. The HSS, founded in 1863, was ranked as the top orthopaedic hospital in last year's US News & World Report. It is affiliated to the Weill Cornell Medical College.

UEMedical is also building a hospital for women and children in central Abu Dhabi which is scheduled to be finished in 2011. The 21-storey Danat Al Emarat hospital will have 300 beds and will be managed by the Singaporean firm ParkwayHealth. It will be the first time that the hospital operator has worked in the Middle East. [e-mail]