When looking at healthcare in Dubai, one important project to bring up is the Dubai Healthcare City. This draws in not just locals, but international patients as well. Dubai Healthcare City is a healthcare free economic zone that was established in 2002. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Makotum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, established the Dubai Healthcare City. It was mandated by the the UAE government to meet demand for high quality and patient-centered healthcare. It is located in the heart of Dubai, which makes it highly accessible. It is currently the world’s largest healthcare free zone.
One of the aims of Dubai Healthcare City is to draw in tourists to Dubai for treatments and services. The DHCC has quite a few services that it offers, ranging from services in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, wellness and medical education.
The Dubai Healthcare City has two phases that it comprises, the first phase was established to cater to healthcare and medical education. This phase covers about 4.1 million square feet in the building, while phase 2 which is still being developed, is being established to cover wellness and will cover about 19 million square feet in the building.
Dubai Healthcare City is overseen by the Dubai Healthcare City Authority or the DHCA. And is regulated through an independent regulatory part of the the Dubai Healthcare City Authority. The Dubai Healthcare City Authority has standards that are accredited by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare. It works through four different divisions which include: Healthcare, Education and Research, Investment and Regulatory.
Healthcare Division
Includes 160 medical facilities, that include hospitals with over 150 specialties with about 4,000 licensed professionals from 90 countries. All these characteristics help to strengthen the DHCC’s medical tourism portfolio. Also about 200 retail and non-clinical facilities serve the DHCC.
Education and Research Division
Consists of Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, the first medical university of the DHCA. The two colleges that are in the University are the Hamdan Bin Mohammed College of Dental Medicine and the College of Medicine. The College of Dental Medicine offers six postgraduate speciality dental programs, while the College of Medicine offers a Bachelor of Medicine degree and a Bachelor of Surgery degree.
Investment Division
This division allows DHCC to offer medical and healthcare providers with a one stop solution to set up their operations. The portfolio of the investment division contains: clinical, commercial, retail business centre and freehold land.
Regulatory Division
This is a regulatory body that works independently that is in charge of licensing the health care providers and professionals.
The overall mission of Dubai Healthcare City is to “enable high quality integrated healthcare, education, research and wellness by forming strategic partnerships.” They have a vision to become internationally recognized as a choice location for quality healthcare. As well as becoming a centre for excellence in clinical and wellness services in addition to medical education and research.