Dh40m cardiac unit set up in Abu Dhabi

ABU DHABI — Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) has inaugurated a Dh40 million ultra-modern Cardiac Sciences Centre of Excellence that will be operational in the third quarter of this year.

By A Staff Reporter

Published: Thu 18 May 2006, 11:36 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 7:42 PM

Dr Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazroui, Director, General Authority for Health Services (GAHS) for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, under which the SKMC is operating, inaugurated the Centre on Tuesday. Clyde Eder, SKMC CEO, Ali Al Mansouri, Deputy CEO at SKMC, and other executive directors from the Authority and members of SKMC's senior management also attended the ceremony.

"The new department of cardiac sciences is a crucial expansion that will provide full cardiac services to UAE residents. The Cardiac Sciences Programme demonstrates the commitment of the GAHS and SKMC, in providing medical care that is advanced and at par with internationally recognised standards of excellence," stated Dr Mazroui

He said the goal of the department, is to reduce medical requirements for overseas travel for treatment, and provide comparable cardiac services to all UAE Residents as well as offering family members an opportunity to participate in the recovery process before, during, and after surgery.

"The opening of the cardiac sciences centre is a significant achievement in advance cardiac care for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE. SKMC is committed continuous improvement of care to ultimately improve the health of the population of the UAE", said Clyde Eder, CEO, SKMC. "The department will enable us to treat cardiac patients in the UAE rather than sending them abroad for treatment resulting in considerable savings for patients and their respective families, and the UAE," he added.

The cardiac sciences centre is an ultra-modern, state-of-the-art and all inclusive centre of excellence that will provide cardiac services and specialties including non-invasive cardiology, cardiac catheterisation and cardiac surgery. It consists of five divisions including adult cardiac surgery, adult and paediatric cardiology, cardiac anesthesiology and paediatric cardiac surgery that will be operational by October 2006.

Initially, the department will provide immediate services in adult cardiac surgery including coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) utilising cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) or without CPB, heart valve repair utilising minimally invasive techniques, heart valve repair or replacement utilising cardiopulmonary bypass, implantation of artificial heart devices as a bridge to recovery, removal of heart tumours, thoracic surgery (eg aortic aneurysm repairs), intervention procedures and pacemaker implantation.

A total of 22 nurses will be available in the units and the cardiac theatre to facilitate patient care. During the first year, the department is anticipated to conduct 250 to 300 adult and paediatric surgeries in 2006 and an annual forecast of 400 to 600 cases.