Dubai's first private rehab available for Dh3,000/day

The rehabilitation centre will reach out to patients in other GCC countries thus contribuing to country's medical tourism industry.

Over 200 patients from the GCC travel abroad each year to gain access to leading rehabilitation facilities. Now they will not have to as Dubai's first private in-patient Rehabilitation Centre has just opened its doors to the public.
"We saw a real demand for rehabilitative medicine and care in the UAE," Dr Stephan Wagner, CEO and owner of Wagner Health & Care, which has partnered with Canadian Specialist Hospital Dubai to open the Centre, told Khaleej Times on Sunday.
"UAE citizens make up a large number of the 200 GCC patients we see visit our centre in Austria. We want to stop them going abroad so we're bringing our expertise to them."
The Dh35 million Rehab Centre will host 48 beds in "five star rated" rooms for both medium and long term in-patients, in addition to its outpatient and day services. Commenting on the expected demand for services, Wagner zoned in on three focus areas.
"We believe our main demand will be orthopaedic, neurological and metabolic indications. Most referrals will come from within CSH but patients outside can also visit the centre." In-patient rehabilitation programmes will last between three to four weeks, depending on the patient's case. A typical programme would require an accumulative five hours of therapy a day -- with six individual sessions lasting 45 minutes each.
"Out-patient services are usually covered by insurance providers but in the UAE, in-patient rehabilitation services are not. Only one or two insurance providers cover these costs," Dr Yashar Ali, Acting CEO/CMO at CSH told Khaleej Times.
As a result, treatment will cost about Dh3,000 per day, per patient. With the centre also reaching out to patients in other GCC countries, this will significantly contribute towards the country's medical tourism industry. Welcome news just days after the UAE's leaders attended a retreat to discuss the country's post oil phase.
Though the official opening was on Sunday, the centre has been seeing patients for about one month, with 20 patients treated so far. "This will be a high occupancy centre and we expect to treat about 800 in-patients each year," Wagner said. kelly@khaleejtimes.com