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Mayo Clinic will open first office outside US at DHCC

DUBAI — The Mayo Clinic yesterday announced that it will open its first office and clinic outside the US at the Dubai Health Care City (DHCC) in April this year. The new office will offer heart care services dedicated primarily to diagnostic and non-invasive therapy. The cardiac services constitute a pilot project with DHCC and will also focus on heart research and education.

Youssef Malouf, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Mayo Medical School, will be permanently based in Dubai and will offer patients with complex cardiac problems second opinion consultations.

Addressing a Press conference at Arab Health 2005 yesterday, Dr Malouf said: "The office will allow patients to get a medical opinion without the need to travel to the US. While the office at DHCC is small, I will have the full force of Mayo Clinic in Rochester behind me."

Dr Malouf said that the clinic will be the first to treat patients at DHCC, and while Mayo Clinic office in Dubai will start on a small scale, the goal is to ensure the highest quality and that the patients come first. A team from Mayo Clinic will assist Dr Malouf along with a team assembled locally. "It will be as if I am in Rochester; consultations with other sub-speciality consultants will be a phone call away. All Mayo Clinic offices and clinics are connected via a five-digit phone number, thus there is no need to call an international number, the computer system is also the same," he said.

James A. Garrity, Chairman of the Mayo Clinic Rochester International Activities Committee and professor of Ophthalmology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, stressed that the service provided through the office in Dubai will be highly cost-effective for patients who can now get second opinion consultations without the need to travel abroad. He said that the office in Dubai will have an advanced telemedicine facility which will allow for uncompromised and secure transfer and exchange of medical images and video with the clinic in Rochester.

Dr Malouf said that initially the Mayo Clinic Office at DHCC will start with echocardiography, surface echo, and stress echocardiography. The office in Dubai will also have an auditorium for holding medical seminars and lectures for doctors to keep up to date, and awareness lectures for the general public.

"The cost for the patient will be a lot cheaper as they will only be paying for the cost of medical opinion, not travel and accommodation. Mayo Clinic is a non-profit organisation, and I have no vested interest in charging patients as we are all at Mayo Clinic salaried employees. The money charged covers Mayo Clinic's areas of responsibility, the medical practice, research and education," Malouf said. He added that the office at DHCC will serve to enhance collaborative efforts with the UAE in areas of medical research, including cardiac research which will primarily benefit the UAE and not Mayo Clinic.

Hugh Smith, M.D., chair, Mayo Clinic board of governors, said: "This pilot project with Dubai Health Care City is part of Mayo Clinic's commitment to explore new models of care that can best meet the needs of patients in the Middle East. We believe the services provided in this new office will complement local and regional cardiology practices already in Dubai and represents Mayo Clinic’s commitment to providing ongoing care supported by research and education to patients residing outside the US.” A Mayo Clinic heart specialist and team of support staff will evaluate patients with heart conditions seeking further evaluation, diagnosis and follow-up care. Mayo Clinic physicians will work closely with local physicians who see patients in the region.