Advancing tertiary paediatric care in Abu Dhabi - SickKids signs clinical partnership with Danat Al Emarat Hospital

A clinical partnership agreement between The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Danat Al Emarat Hospital for Women & Children and HealthPlus Network of Specialty Centers, part of United Eastern Medical Services (UEMedical) Group, was announced in Abu Dhabi. The agreement will collaborate and advance paediatric services in Abu Dhabi as it covers the exchange of experience and knowledge; the training of physicians and nurses; and placing SickKids-trained physicians at Danat Al Emarat Hospital to care for complicated cases utilizing SickKids International clinical protocols and standards.

The agreement was endorsed by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) and the Canadian Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The agreement was announced by Jeff Mainland, Executive Vice President at SickKids, and Majd Abu Zant, Chief Operating Officer at UEMedical. Also in attendance were Cathy Seguin, Vice President, SickKids International; Mohammed Hamad Al Hameli, Acting Undersecretary at DoH; His Excellency Masud Husain, Canadian Ambassador in the UAE; H.E. Sultan Al Harbi, UAE Consul General in Toronto; and a number of senior officials from both parties.

“We are really pleased to announce our clinical partnership agreement with Danat Al Emarat Hospital and HealthPlus Children’s Center and to bring SickKids expertise to the community of Abu Dhabi and the UAE,” said Seguin. “We have cared for many Emirati kids suffering from complex life-threatening diseases in the past decade and have considered transferring our expertise closer to home for patients. We were very selective with whom to partner with: UEMS and SickKids share similar visions and values, thus, our partnership with UEMedical is aiming to jointly improve children’s health through health-care integration, research and education. We certainly anticipate a long-lasting partnership with UEMedical that benefits the health outcomes for children in UAE and the region.”

“In line with our commitment to advance paediatric care in Abu Dhabi, our partnership with the internationally renowned SickKids Hospital aims to enhance the quality of tertiary paediatric services at Danat Al Emarat Hospital. It represents a crucial milestone in UEMedical’s strategy to sustain one of the finest private health systems for the Emirate,” said Majd Abu Zant. “To complement Danat Al Emarat’s well-established Paediatrics Department and its full-fledge 23-bed Neonatal Intensive Care level III which is considered one of the largest in Abu Dhabi private sector, we looked at highly demanded clinical specialties which are not available in the private sector and people travel abroad for. Thus, the initial services that will be supported by SickKids will include paediatric orthopedics, paediatric gastroenterology, paediatric pulmonology and paediatric neurology. SickKids trained physicians will be working at Danat Al Emarat Hospital and will provide care for complicated and rare cases.”

After the signing ceremony, Mohammed Hamad Al Hameli said, “Bringing in specialized paediatric service lines in the private sector helps fill in capacity gaps which were announced recently by DoH. Moreover, such international partnerships represent another step for Abu Dhabi healthcare sector in the realization of the UAE leaders’ vision to provide the people of the UAE with quality care comparable to international standards and bringing in international expertise and medical excellence to the region. It also comes in line with the DoH strategic priorities in enhancing tertiary paediatric care accessibility, and improving clinical outcomes through partnering with world renowned academic medical institutions. This directly helps in eliminating the need for patients to travel abroad for treatment.”

“Canada is well-known for its strong healthcare infrastructure and leads in medical research and innovation. We are indeed proud to witness and to support the collaboration between SickKids and Danat Al Emarat Hospital in bringing Canadian medical expertise to the UAE. This is reflective of the strong ties and the mutual trust between the UAE and Canada,” said His Excellency Masud Husain.  

The agreement also involves training of physicians from Danat Al Emarat Hospital at SickKids.

About The Hospital for Sick Children

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is recognized as one of the world’s foremost paediatric health-care institutions and is Canada’s leading centre dedicated to advancing children’s health through the integration of patient care, research and education. Founded in 1875 and affiliated with the University of Toronto, SickKids is one of Canada’s most research-intensive hospitals and has generated discoveries that have helped children globally.  Its mission is to provide the best in complex and specialized child and family-centred care; pioneer scientific and clinical advancements; share expertise; foster an academic environment that nurtures health-care professionals; and champion an accessible, comprehensive and sustainable child health system. SickKids is proud of its vision for Healthier Children. A Better World. For more information, please visit www.sickkids.ca. Follow us on Twitter (@SickKidsNews) and Instagram (@SickKidsToronto).