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Join Date: 05 Mar 2015
Location:  UAEPosts: 54 |
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Abu Dhabi’s Corniche Hospital turning away expats? |
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Abu Dhabi’s Corniche Hospital turning away expats?
Chief medical officer of the hospital, said the new policy is not intended to turn expat patients away, but rather aimed at improving patient experience, as well as to give priority to patients requiring special medical care. Abu Dhabi - Pregnant expats hoping to receive medical care at the largest and most trusted maternity hospital in the Capital have been told to go elsewhere following recent changes in policy. After a bad experience from a private hospital two years ago, Lanie Manalo wanted to deliver this time at the Corniche Hospital but was told that her insurance is not accepted at the hospital. She proposed to pay herself, but was told that ‘self-pay’ had been stopped about three months ago. Furthermore, she was told that the earliest available appointment is only on August 30. “This is still four months away. My expected delivery is on September 4 so this will not work for me, I could be giving birth before then and haven’t had my check-up, yet,†said Manalo who is now 22 weeks pregnant. A British national who is in her 28 weeks of pregnancy and currently consulting with the Corniche, said: “I was very lucky to get in. It was not easy at all because they are not accepting expats anymore; they are only accepting the (Daman’s) Thiqa insurance (for Emiratis).†However, Paul Bosio, chief medical officer of the hospital, said the new policy is not intended to turn expat patients away, but rather aimed at improving patient experience, as well as to give priority to patients requiring special medical care and according to their medical insurance. “The Corniche Hospital has been operating at overcapacity for the last several years. While we have continued to look after all patients during this time, this used to cause increasing delays for our patients, both in getting appointments, as well as, in clinics. “In September 2014, we reorganised our clinic appointment schedules, stopped double-booking patients and added several evening clinics. In addition, we have recruited more consultant physicians across the entire hospital. This has improved our service to all our patients and waiting times have dramatically been reduced. Despite all of this, the volume of patients wishing to attend Corniche Hospital for routine care still outstrips our physical capacity,†he explained. Owned and operated by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), Corniche Hospital is the largest maternity and neonatal healthcare facility in the UAE with 299-bed, including 64 NICU cots. The hospital has more than 8,000 deliveries and over 120,000 outpatient visits a year. “While we continue to welcome all Emirati women to Corniche, we do encourage non-Emirati patients with uncomplicated pregnancies to consider other options for maternity care available in Abu Dhabi. Our advice is based on the patient’s clinical background and medical insurance and not simply whether she is an Emirati or an expat,†Bosio stressed. He added that this approach is only applied to completely new patients requesting new appointments and “no existing patient has been cancelled or sent elsewhere in the middle of her care or pregnancy.†Bosio said the hospital “will continue to treat all emergencies and accept all high-risk or critical cases that cannot be appropriately seen by other health providers.†At present, Brightpoint Royal Women’s Hospital is the only private maternity hospital in the Capital. Brightpoint, which started operations in July last year with 80 beds, is managed by NMC Healthcare. Another private hospital dedicated to mother and child is the Danat Al Emarat Hospital, which will open this summer. Managed by international operators Parkway Pantai Limited, the hospital has 130 in-patient rooms and a full-fledged ICU, PICU and NICU departments. A flagship project of the United Eastern Medical Services, Danat Al Emarat will link its services with the existing HealthPlus chain of specialised centres such as the Fertility and Genetics Centre and the Women’s Health Centre. Source:khaleejtimes http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/nationhealth/2015/April/nationhealth_April29.xml§ion=nationhealth |
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