Hadassah Hospital is negotiating with officials in the United Arab Emirates to establish a branch of Hadassah in Dubai, Reshet Bet radio reported Monday morning.
Hadassah Hospital Director Professor Zeev Rothstein was in Dubai last week and managed the talks personally. Rothstein told Reshet Bet that “this proposal is a revolution – to establish Hadassah Hospital as a medical empire in the United Arab Emirates.”
According to the report, the connection was made through American officials and businessmen, and Hadassah is being offered huge budgets and a state-of-the-art campus in Dubai.
The World Bank ranked Dubai and Abu Dhabi as the 2nd and 3rd, respectively, most popular medical tourism destinations in the Middle East, behind Jordan. In the first half of 2015, Dubai attracted 260,000 medical tourists.
The deal would likely include migrating Israeli doctors and research units from Jerusalem to Dubai.
A team will be set up to study the proposed deal, which could spell the difference between unimaginable success and certain bankruptcy for Hadassah Hospital, which has been in a severe budget crisis that worsened during the Corona pandemic, to the point where the hospital has difficulties paying staff salaries.
In June, Hadassah Hospital contacted the Ministries of Finance and Health on behalf of all the public hospitals in Israel and announced that “as expected, a cash flow crisis has arisen these days in all public hospitals, including Hadassah.”
The June statement continued: “It turns out that it is easier to issue decrees than to live up to the commitment they create. Therefore, Hadassah wishes to announce a lack of cash resulting from the delay in the implementation of the ‘State Budget’ for indemnification and compensation to Hadassah as required in these times. Hadassah management contacted the relevant government offices asking them to bypass all bureaucratic obstacles and immediately arrange for the budgets and payment streams for this year to the public hospitals, including Hadassah.”
Abu Dhabi is leading the way in using national Electronic health record data as a live longitudinal cohort in the assessment of the risk of cardiovascular disease.
According to Relocate Global, Dubai has one of the best public health systems in the world, offering a high standard of medical care in state-of-the-art facilities. It is run by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), which oversees both public and private healthcare, and replaces the Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS). The Emirate has four major government hospitals: Dubai, Rashid, Latifa, and Hatta. Each has an emergency department and offers both inpatient and outpatient services. English is commonly spoken by staff.