Scaling New Heights

The group celebrates 25 years of providing top-notch institutions in multiple sectors

The widely-diversified Thumbay Group is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The foundations of its debut into the corporate world were laid on August 1997 by Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President, and since then, Thumbay Group has flourished into a multi-domain, multi-Emirate business conglomerate.

From being the first expat to set up Gulf Medical University — a higher education institute for healthcare professionals in Ajman — Dr. Moideen’s business ventures have scaled exponentially to provide healthcare to 20,000 people daily, with a combined workforce of around 3,500 employees.

He believes that the company's alignment with the strategic vision of the UAE's leadership has been the reason for his success. Entering into the 25th year of business operations in 2022, Dr. Moideen, said: “I have always regarded God's grace, the government's support and and my team as the three main reasons for our achievements. The company’s completion of 24 years in the business is a momentous occasion for us, and they are very special to us as it serves as a testament to our long-term vision, our focus on consumers and our ability to run businesses that add value to people and society. With plans to go the extra mile to make this year more rewarding for our customers, employees and all other stakeholders, we have several upcoming business initiatives to create a widespread legacy of responsible and progressive operations across the UAE, India and other regions.”

The company’s core business remains medical education and academic health research, an area in which the university has graduated more than 2,269 students, which forms 60 per cent of healthcare professionals and 20 per cent doctors, graduating every year from the UAE. Moreover, Thumbay Group has built an entire medical city around the university, which features eight academic hospitals with a total of 800 beds, 11 medical centres, 46 pharmacies, five laboratories and other subsidiary businesses. In the long-lasting journey of 24 years, the group has achieved many firsts to its credit, with the top six being, the first private medical university in UAE, the first private teaching rehab hospital, the first private teaching dental hospital, establishment of the first Thumbay Medicity, the first private academic health system, the first private university to get QAA global accreditation, the first health varsity —an online healthcare professionals education platform.

From humble beginnings and a single university and teaching hospital, the group has built an empire of diversified interests. Thus, starting from a well-established name in medical education, healthcare, research, laboratory and pharmacy, the firm now owns several other hospitality businesses such as health clubs, coffee, optical and flower shops. It has over 110 touch points across seven Emirates with tie-ups to more than 70 institutions across the globe.

Going forward, Thumbay Group has dedicated the next five years towards the growth of medical education, healthcare and research, which aligns to the goals and vision of the UAE. It also plans to create more jobs, employing its own alumni, creating internship opportunities in every department the Thumbay Group operates.

The Thumbay Hospital network, which today has the distinction of being the biggest chain of private academic hospitals in the region and Thumbay Group’s healthcare division operates eight academic hospitals, 10 family clinics, five diagnostic labs, and 46 retail pharmacy outlets and the first drive through pharmacy. With that being said, the group’s medical tourism department is also very active in promoting all services under medical tourism, which boasts representatives speaking over 20 languages with offices spread across 30 countries.

—ali@khaleejtimes.com