Crown Prince calls for
larger role by private sector to transform country's healthcare ecosystem
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, visited the Burjeel Hospital yesterday morning.
He ordered that holders of Thiqa health insurance cards would no longer pay the deductible 20 per cent of the treatment cost when visiting private medical facilities in Abu Dhabi
Shaikh Mohammad was accompanied by Dr Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Chairman of the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD), Jasem Mohammad Al Zaabi, Head of the Executive Committee Office, and Prof. Maha Taysir Barakat, director general of HAAD, a press release from the hospital said.
Shaikh Mohammad was received by Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman and managing director of VPS Healthcare; Omran Al Khoori, president, business Development, VPS Healthcare; Nabil Debouni, Burjeel Hospital's medical director, and Dr Yassin Ebrahim, chief medical officer,
Shaikh Mohammad visited various departments and facilities at the Burjeel Hospital and interacted with patients and inquired about their well-being. He expressed his support for the private sector and his desire to enable the private health care sector to play a larger role in transforming Abu Dhabi's and the UAE's health care ecosystem.
Shaikh Mohammad was briefed on the upcoming projects of the hospital, which was opened in 2012, as well as on development programmes that will strengthen the infrastructure of the health care sector in the emirate and improve the quality of health services provided for patients to further enhance the leadership of the health sector in Abu Dhabi.
He underlined the importance of continued development of the health sector as one of the vital and key sectors in addition to the important role of investment in this vital area to inspire and support medical personnel in the public and private sectors.
New initiatives
Shaikh Mohammad issued instructions to launch a series of initiatives that boost the emirate's health sector. He ordered the setting up of a medical college to provide the medical sector with highly qualified medical cadres.
Shaikh Mohammad instructed the competent health authorities to consider the setting up of a specialised medical city that supports Abu Dhabi's regional role in health care services and medical tourism, and the development of an investment fund to boost medical projects in Abu Dhabi
Burjeel Medical City, which will open in 2018
will focus on ultra-specialised domains like oncology.