New Medical Facilities
Dubai Mall Medical Centre
– a patient-centred approach
Emaar Healthcare, part of Dubai’s
Emaar Properties – the developers of the Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest
building – has recently opened its first healthcare facility, The Dubai
Mall Medical Centre. Emaar Healthcare has partnered with Methodist
International, the international arm of the renowned US-based The
Methodist Hospital, who is providing the management expertise for this
patientcentred facility. Callan Emery spoke to Omar Shunnar, the CEO of
Emaar Healthcare, about the new medical centre and their partnership
with Methodist.
Dubai's renowned Emaar
Properties' foray into healthcare
was marked by the
opening in October last year of
Emaar Healthcare’s first
healthcare facility. Located in
the massive Dubai Mall, the
60,000 sq ft multi-specialty,
out-patient facility is called,
simply, The Dubai Mall
Medical Centre.
With easy, direct access
from one the mall’s sprawling
parking bays, this modernlooking,
swish new medical
centre is sure to make its
mark on the medical facilities
landscape of Dubai.
But why did Emaar move
into healthcare in the first
place? Omar Shunnar, the
CEO of Emaar Healthcare,
explains.
“Early in 2003-2004, Emaar
Properties stated that they
wanted to become one of the
world’s most valuable companies.
They articulated this
vision by transforming the
company from being just a
property developer to a
lifestyle developer. This shift
from purely property developer
to lifestyle developer stemmed
from the demand for the development
of integrated communities.”
The development of integrated
communities involves
the building of residential
units, schools, entertainment
facilities, hotels, medical
clinics, office space and so
forth all within a single developmental
framework.
“This resulted in the establishment
of several business
units within Emaar – among
them retail, hospitality, education
and healthcare.”
Focussing on the healthcare
arm of Emaar, Shunnar said
that it set as its main objective
the implementation of world
class health care. “This entails
looking at the quality and location
of the facility, the technology,
the standards, the practitioners,
the hospitality and
the community.
“Emaar wanted to ‘blur the
lines’ between healthcare and
hospitality,” he says.
“We want the healthcare we
offer to be patient centric. We
don’t want the patient to be
sitting around for 15 to 20
minutes waiting to see the doctor.
And this was one of the key
reasons they turned to
Methodist International, the
international business arm of
the highly respected USbased
The Methodist
Hospital.
Shunnar explained that as
far as a healthcare system is
involved they have “gone the
whole nine yards”.
“If we look at patient satisfaction
The Methodist
Hospital ranks very high in the
US. It also achieved a very
high rank for clinical
outcomes,” says Shunnar.
The Methodist Hospital has
implemented a range of clinical
and administrative protocols
to entrench their commitment
to international best
practice.
“The way they conduct their
business is also one of their
strengths. The Methodist
Hospital has been ranked in
the top 10 by Fortune magazine
as one of the ‘best places to
work’. So you can imagine the
human resource policies and
procedures that are in place to
create this atmosphere. This is
one of the things we looked
at,” says Shunnar.
“We hope to bring that same
ethos to Dubai. In this way we
can become the employer of
choice among healthcare practitioners.”
In a statement, Emaar
Healthcare said the partnership
also ensures that through
ongoing and intensive learning
programmes developed and
delivered by Methodist
International, the staff at The
Dubai Mall Medical Centre
will be familiar with the latest
technological advances and
best practices in delivering
world class healthcare services.
To complement this, there is
also provision for cross training
at The Methodist Hospital in
Houston.
Accreditation
Shunnar explained that The
Dubai Mall Medical Centre is
planning to apply for the prestigious
JCI (Joint Commission
International) accreditation.
“From the outset we
designed the entire facility, as
well as the processes, to be
accredited by JCI. We are also
looking to have the lab accredited
and to get the relevant
ISO accreditations.”
Shunnar explained that The
Dubai Mall Medical Centre
will act as a hub for a number
of other smaller medical clinics
in the city.
“This centre is not the only
one. We are currently building
two other facilities – in the
Meadows and the Arabian
Ranches – which will be
connected to this one
according to the ‘hub and
spoke model’.
“The clinics, or community
health centres, will refer their
patients to this medical centre.
Here you have all the specialists
– some of the best in
town,” says Shunnar.
The community health centres were slated to launch
at the end 2009, early 2010.
Community
“At the core of our ethos is the
commitment to our community,” Shunnar says. Among a
number of community-based
initiatives, they plan to run
healthcare education programmes
within the communities.
“We have a clear social
responsibility to ensure that we
enhance the quality of life.”
“We will run education
campaigns about diabetes,
heart disease, obesity, cancer,”
he says enthusiastically.
With the initial seed – The
Dubai Mall Medical Centre –
successfully planted and taking
root, the possibilities down the
road look promising.
Date
of upload: 26th Jan 2010
