Umm Al Quwain Ruler opens Khalifa hospital

Shaikh Saud and Shaikh Mansour being briefed on the facilties at Shaikh Khalifa General Hospital. — Wam

His Highness Shaikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Umm Al Quwain, has expressed gratitude to the President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for his initiatives to improve healthcare services and spread health awareness.

Shaikh Saud expressed his profound thanks to the President for his initiative to build the world-class Khalifa General Hospital in Umm Al Quwain. The Ruler made these remarks while officially inaugurating the hospital in the presence of Shaikh Rashid bin Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla, Crown Prince of Umm Al Quwain, and Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and a number of top officials.

He said, “We in the UAE are not only building modern hospitals and healthcare centres across the country but we are, at the same time, working to develop organisational, legislative and legal frameworks that advance health services in both public and private sectors for the betterment of the individual and community.”

On his part, Shaikh Mansour said the construction of the Shaikh Khalifa Hospital in Umm Al Quwain translated the visions of the President on the organic relationship between health and development and the importance of delivering high quality, competitive health services responsive to the growing needs of both the individual and community.

He added, “The tour we conducted today in various wards, units and clinics of the hospital made us more assured of the advanced levels of services the health facility will provide and its role in promoting health awareness among both Emiratis and residents.” He said the health facility was built as part of the President’s initiatives for providing integrated, affordable healthcare and curative services matching international standards.

The hospital was designed and built on the best international architectural specification, manned with highly experienced professionals and fitted with the most advanced medical equipment, making it one of the best providers of health, diagnostic and curative centres in the state.

The hospital will partner with Fatima College of Health Sciences (FCHS) to develop the nursing profession to train and attract more Emirati health professionals on board. Shaikh Saud and his entourage took a tour of the hospital which accommodates 203 beds in addition to another 30 beds in the emergency unit and 10 beds in the dialysis unit.

The soft trial of the hospital started a year ago and up to October 2013, it received 28,000 patients in the outpatient clinics. As many as 440 employees, including doctors, nursing staff, administrators and technicians, were appointed to run the hospital. Emiratis form 70 per cent of the administrative staff and 7.5 per cent of technicians.