Dubai health authorities have unveiled plans to build a hospital dedicated to treating gastroenterology, in what is being described as a first for the region.
Construction will begin in the coming months on the 65-bed facility across nine floors in Dubai Healthcare City.
Work is due to be completed in 2026, at which point the hospital is expected to welcome patients.
The project is being led by Asan Medical Centre, one of South Korea's largest healthcare providers, in partnership with Dubai Health Authority and Scope Investment.
The hospital will offer a range of key treatments for patients, including stomach, colon, and pancreas tumours. It will also offer morbid obesity surgeries, care and follow-up for patients before and after liver transplant operations, and digestive disorders in children.
The hospital, set on grounds spanning 21,150 square metres, will be staffed by an expert medical team with will the latest equipment and technologies at their disposal.
“After the completion of its construction work, the hospital will be the first hospital for Asan Medical Centre outside South Korea, and the first hospital specialising in the digestive system in the Arab Gulf region,” Dubai Media Office stated on Sunday.
It aims to further boost the emirate's status as a medical tourism destination and ensure patients with various digestive issues do not have to travel outside the country to receive crucial care.
South Korea's Asan Medical Centre has performed more than 2,800 surgeries for stomach cancer, a further 2,600 colorectal and rectal cancer procedures and more than 1,100 for liver cancer operations over the past year.
Awadh Al Ketbi, director general of the Dubai Health Authority, highlighted the pivotal role to be played by the private medical sector in bolstering health services in the emirate.
He said continued overseas investment demonstrated the strength of Dubai's health sector.
Dubai received 674,000 medical tourists who spent Dh992 million ($270 million) last year, an increase of Dh262 million from 2021.
Thirty-nine per cent of the medical tourists who came to the emirate last year were from Asian countries while 22 per cent were from Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. 21 per cent were from Arab and GCC countries, the Dubai Health Authority said in April.
