Dubai: Dubai will soon have the first of its kind heart and lung Centre of Excellence, with cutting-edge technology in the private sector where patients will have the possibility of affordable heart and lung transplants.
Phased expansion
Meitra Care Network (MCN) from India, which is an initiative by the UAE-based conglomerate, KEF Healthcare, announced its partnership with Canadian Specialist Hospital (CSH) to launch this centre. The Centre for Excellence will follow a phased augmentation.
Dr KR Balakrishnan, world-renowned expert cardiothoracic surgeon who runs Asia’s most prolific heart and lung transplant programmes in India, will play a key role in this partnership. Dr Balakrishnan is an acknowledged expert in cardiothoracic surgery who has mastered evidence-based approach to health care practices.
Robotics and spinal surgery to be introduced in Phase 2
The centre will have a full spectrum of services, which will be launched in a phased manner. In the first phase, the centre will offer advanced interventional cardiology procedures and electro physiology department. A full-time team from Meitra will also be located at the CSH. In the second phase, the Centre will have a full-fledged cardiac sciences department that will offer all heart-related surgical procedures.
In the second phase, the project will expand to include centres of excellence in Orthopaedics and Robotics surgery. This will also include Advanced Neuroscience department, which will also have a facility for Spine surgeries.
Mechanical heart transplants a definite possibility
Dr Balakrishnan told Gulf News, “We intend to have heart transplants in the subsequent phases, but will begin with artificial and mechanical heart transplants first, to bring relief to patients with congenital heart disease in UAE and the region.”
In order to be a regional hub, the centre of excellence will deploy advanced digital technology will facilitate diversified medical interventions across tele-consultation, telemedicine to diagnosis, critical care to surgical support and advisory.
Cutting edge technology at affordable costs
Commenting on this project, Mohammad Rashid Al Falasi, Chairman of CSH said, “This is a groundbreaking collaboration, and with MCN, the pioneering disruptive medical and health care ecosystem, we will be able to enhance patient-centric care connecting with multiple specialist health care experts and entities from around the world. We will be offering the full spectrum of heart and vascular care services to patients that will complement Dubai’s reputation as a regional health care and medical tourism hub.
He added. “CSH is a reputable acute-cum-critical care hospital catering to the tertiary health care needs of the UAE and the region. Our goal with this collaboration is to create an ever-expanding health care ecosystem, bringing patients and doctors, as well as primary, secondary, tertiary and critical care service providers, under one integrated system. This will reduce downtime and wastage of resources, and result in better utilisation of doctors, laboratories, operation theatres, and health care facilities — to offer the best health care services at an affordable price.”
The collaboration will address a critical gap in health care delivery.
Faizal Kottikollon, the founder and chairman of KEF holdings and the Calicut-based Meitra hospital and MCN said, “We believe MCN has the potential to address the critical gap in collaborative health care supported by technology, and our debut in Dubai with CSH is a milestone in bringing quality global health care to patients in Dubai and the UAE.”
