ProVita International Medical Center celebrates first anniversary

ProVita currently is the only facility of its kind in the MENA region to provide long-term care for acute, ventilator dependent patients in a non-hospital setting.

The facility has witnessed high demand from chronically ill patients, who were previously cared for in hospital ICUs or long-term care facilities abroad. With ProVita Abu Dhabi at full capacity, a second 50-bed ProVita facility is scheduled to open in December 2012 in Al Ain's Al Foah District.

ProVita's doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and related specialists offer the highest standards of professional medical care and therapy, designed according to each patient's needs with a clear objective: to enhance quality of life, increase the patient's human potential and continually promote normalcy for the patient and their family.

Executive Chairman of the Board Dr. Helmut M. Schuehsler, said, "since ProVita opened we have witnessed some significant milestones reached by our patients who strive for normalcy in their everyday lives. The whole team has worked tirelessly to ensure that the aim of enhancing patients' quality of life is being met and I am incredibly proud of what has been achieved. We look forward to seeing ProVita grow and are making every effort to open the new site in Al Ain before the end of the year."

ProVita is a portfolio company of TVM Capital MENA, the first international private equity house with a focus in healthcare to establish operations in the MENA region. The genesis of the clinic, and more specifically the collaboration with the founder of ProVita clinics in Germany, Christina Shawky-Boehme, is consistent with the TVM Capital MENA strategy of involving leading operators from more fully developed healthcare markets such as in Europe or North America to provide unique and specialized healthcare services in the Middle East, directly catering to the growing local demand.

Patient experience - Yusra
26 year-old Yusra suffers from a motor neurone disease, which has led to chronic respiratory failure and the need for long-term ventilation. The condition also severely restricts her upper limb strength and she is unable to move anything except her hands, mouth and eyelids. Before being admitted to ProVita in 2011, Yusra was cared for in an ICU with no access to the outside world.

For Yusra and her family being admitted to ProVita has given her back the element of choice in how she lives her life and what activities she wants to pursue. ProVita's staff accompanies Yusra on outdoor visits twice a week and she is an active member of the social media community keeping up to date with friends on social media via her laptop. With an interest in art, Yusra wants to learn how to draw and paint and an art teacher visits her at ProVita on a weekly basis.

Patient experience - Sheikha
When three-year old Sheikha was admitted to ProVita over a year ago facing severe physical and social problems, daily life was an incredible challenge for the little girl and her family. Having spent much of her early life in the US undergoing various treatments, Sheikha came to ProVita requiring mechanical ventilation on a nightly basis and experienced a range of issues interacting with people, such as an inability to make eye contact and frequent rocking behaviour.

Proprioceptive difficulties meant Sheikha was unable to walk; despite having the physical ability to do so, the sensory processing disorder meant she lacked any sense of where her body was in space, rendering her afraid of making basic movements. Through daily occupational therapy sessions and round-the-clock care, a year has made an incredible difference to Sheikha's life and her achievements are manifold.

She was weaned off mechanical ventilation and OTs spent months gradually building up a rapport and developing her trust in order to tackle some of the social issues. An incredibly delicate process saw Sheikha build up tolerance to bearing weight on her limbs (at first supported and then unaided). The next stage saw her use a specially designed walker, as she was encouraged to take steps, an action that she now does semi-independently, with the help of holding someone's hand.

Having been overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of everyday life and in need of constant physical comfort, Sheikha is now able to engage in independent activities and is at a stage where she can be enrolled into a basic education programme, a milestone that those close to her never expected her to reach.