RAK Hospital in Abu Dhabi seeks to become a destination for medical tourism. The luxury, hotel-style hospital gets 150 patients from abroad each month, but wants more.
RAK Hospital in Abu Dhabi seeks to become a destination for medical tourism. The luxury, hotel-style hospital gets 150 patients from abroad each month, but wants more.
Dr Raza Siddiqui of owners Arabian Healthcare Group says, “We want to combine the hotel and hospitality concept with medical tourism. The idea is that the hospital should also look after the needs of the local population. In the first two years we focused on this, making sure the local community no longer had to travel abroad for treatment. For people from Abu Dhabi and from Dubai, it might not be the ideal choice to come to RAK for treatment. To optimise the market, we realised we had to step outside the UAE.”
Five years ago RAK Hospital began treating patients from abroad for a range of complex issues, from neurosurgery to cancer and cardiac surgeries.
Outreach offices in countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bahrain allow doctors to follow up with patients after surgery is complete and they have returned home.
The 70-bed facility, which has a hair salon and spa, will be doubled in size as part of expansion plans over the next six months, which will also increase the number of intensive-care beds to 36.
In the future RAK Hospital wants to offer cosmetic surgery to well off customers from overseas.
Dr Jean-Marc Gauer of RAK Hospital adds, “Being an hour from Dubai airport is a big advantage. People from Dubai are more hesitant to come here from a country such as Ethiopia. It is a challenge to bring the domestic population here.”
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