Welcare Hospital in Dhs 17 Million expansion

Hospital officials made the announcement during a media briefing inaugurating 17 new and additional private inpatient rooms that have been added to meet the growing demand for the facility's holistic, customer-focused healthcare.

Other major enhancements this year include two additional full-featured operating theatres, bringing the hospital's total to four, and a neonatal intensive care unit with four incubators able to treat babies up to 6 weeks premature.

"We are committed to being recognized in the UAE and internationally as a leader in holistic healthcare by offering high-quality ethical, evidence-based medicine focused on customer service and hospitality. This expansion reflects how we are realizing this goal by using forward-looking research and best-in-class systems of operation," said Vidur Kaushik, CEO, Welcare World, which manages Welcare Hospital.

During 2006, patients also will benefit from the addition of some of the country's most sophisticated diagnostic imaging equipment, including a General Electric MRI scanner with a power of 1.5 Tesla and a 16-slice General Electric CT Scanner. In addition, the Radiology Department has been equipped with a RIS/PACS system making it a fully digital department. This is the first of its kind in the UAE.

Michael Stroud, CEO of Welcare Hospital, said, "By consistently delivering unrivalled patient care, Welcare Hospital has become a leader in the UAE private healthcare industry. This investment ensures that we are able to meet the growing demand for Welcare's world-class treatment and care."

Welcare World Health Systems is a leading healthcare consultancy and management firm based in Dubai. The expansion at Welcare Hospital will soon be followed by the launch of the Welcare Eye Centre in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) and, in 2007, a Welcare-managed speciality hospitals also being built in DHCC. A third Welcare-managed hospital also is under design.

The additional rooms, which represent the first major expansion at the hospital since it opened in Garhoud in 1998, bring its total beds to 121 ensuring Welcare Hospital continues to be one of the largest private hospitals in the UAE.

The new 17 bed room expansion will allow Welcare to meet the demands for inpatient care which it is currently experiencing. The new rooms have been developed to make patients stay at Welcare more comfortable and more like a hotel than a hospital.

The ongoing drive at Welcare Hospital to deliver excellence to patients also is seen in its Welcare Learning Circle lecture series, the first and longest running regular continuing medical education program run by a private hospital in Dubai. Welcare also assures constant information on latest technologies and practices by partnering with world leaders in healthcare such as GE Medical Systems for information systems management and equipment, Ellerbe Becket for hospital architectural design, Sobha Renaissance Information Technology for IT solutions, Compass for outsourced services such as housekeeping, catering and security, and Medical Solutions PLC for pathology laboratory management.

Combining high levels of hospitality with Western expertise, Welcare is committed to holistic patient care that ensures a concerned and caring bedside manner from all who interact with the patient and evidence-based medicine that means diagnosis and treatment is focused on each patient's individual symptoms, responses and needs. Welcare Hospital offers more than 14 specialized departments, including Cardiology, Oncology, Maternity, Urology, Endocrinology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, Cardiac Surgery, Paediatrics, Orthopaedics, Ophthalmology, ENT and General & Laparoscopic Surgery.