Dive Brief:
- Mayo Clinic and Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, a 12-hospital healthcare network, have formed a joint venture to launch 741-bed Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, a hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for patients with serious or complex medical conditions, the organizations said in a news release.
- Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, which also includes 24 specialized medical clinics, began accepting patients earlier this month and is expected to be fully operational early next year.
- Mayo Clinic will be a shareholder in the operating company for the hospital, although details about the financial arrangement were not disclosed.
Dive Insight:
The new hospital is not Mayo Clinic's first foray overseas. In September, it opened an outpatient clinic in London in conjunction with Oxford University Clinic and Oxford University Hospitals Trust. The London clinic offers personalized preventive care programs.
Other U.S. health systems also have been expanding overseas. For example, Cleveland Clinic manages a 364-bed hospital in Abu Dhabi under an agreement with Mubadala Investment Company, which owns the facility. Cleveland Clinic also plans to open a new 185-bed hospital in London in 2021.
Ascension, the 150-hospital Catholic health system, transitioned out of its ownership in Health City Cayman Islands in 2017. The system had partnered with Narayana Health of India to build the 104-bed facility, which opened in 2014.
For HCA Healthcare, which has been operating facilities in the United Kingdom since 1995, overseas investment is old news. The company now runs six private hospitals in London and Manchester.
In a similar vein, officials from Mayo and Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) envision a long-term commitment to Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, which they expect will become a leading destination for specialized medical care in the Middle East, according to the joint news release.
"With significant inward investment and knowledge transfer to further drive the advancement of the sector, the partnership builds on our reputation for exceptional care, but is also a major boost for the Emirates' health care industry, delivering on Abu Dhabi's Vision 2030 and SEHA's commitment to the community," H.E. Salem Rashid Al Noaimi, chairman of SEHA, said in a statement.
Mayo Clinic CEO Gianrico Farrugia emphasized the collaborative nature of the relationship, saying Mayo's physicians, nurses, administrators and others would be "working side by side with colleagues from SEHA."
A total of 2,240 caregivers, including more than 440 physicians, will staff the 3.2-million square foot facility, which will have a medical research center.
SEHA owns all of the public hospitals and clinics in Abu Dhabi. In addition to 12 hospitals, the organization operates two blood banks and more than 60 ambulatory and urgent care centers, treating 5 million outpatients and 100,000 inpatients annually.
