Media Release

Dubai, Jan 19: Thumbay Group, established in 1998 and headquartered in DIFC Dubai, UAE has announced a major drive to expand its healthcare operations globally as well as in the UAE by building the biggest private academic hospital in the region, thereby establishing itself as the largest private academic healthcare provider in the region. This project is expected to be completed at a rapid pace and become operational in a record time of 15 months.

Thumbay Moideen

Akbar Moideen Thumbay

Thumbay Moideen, the founder president of Thumbay Group announced the strategic plan of the group to open 15 more hospitals in the next five years. The group also plans to add a chain of Thumbay Eye Hospitals and Thumbay Fertility Centres shortly, as part of the strategic plan. Plans are also afoot to open 25 more Thumbay Labs, 100 more Thumbay Pharmacies, 25 outlets of NutriPlus Vita, 25 outlets of Zo and Mo Opticals and three more University campuses in Ghana, Malaysia and India, by the end of 2020. With the completion of the above projects the group will employ 6,000 people in the next two years, and the number will reach 15,000 employees by the end of 2020. The total investment of the expansion projectis valued at more than AED 1.2 billion.

The new 400-bed teaching hospital, a 60-chair dental hospital and a hi-tech rehabilitation centre are coming up in the campus of Gulf Medical University in Al Jurf, Ajman. These new projects, once operational, will add to the training and research facilities of students of the various colleges under Gulf Medical University which is on the fast-track to emerging as a research and innovation based medical university in the region.

The new hospital which is expected to be completed by 2017-18, will be the biggest private academic hospital in the region. It is envisioned as a state-of-the-art, purpose-built 400-bed smart facility, which will be the teaching hospital of Gulf Medical University. The hospital will be equipped with modern infrastructure and will also focus on medical tourism. It will be constructed over 3, 20, 000 square feet area, in four floors, and with over 120 clinics. The hospital will feature a special robotic pharmacy, a first of its kind in the region, and will have quaternary care facilities. The hospital will also have a full-fledged radiology department with PET-CT scan, a first of its kind in the northern Emirates. With the ultramodern facilities of thehospital, Thumbay Group aims to continue its tradition of providing high quality healthcare services at affordable costs. The hospital’s state-of-the-art laboratory will be connected to Thumbay Labs and CABRI (Center for Advanced Biomedical Research and Innovation - GMU’s world-class research and diagnostics facility) via an unmanned chute, to offer highly specialized tests and diagnostic facilities.

Among the new hospitals coming up, the ones in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Ghana are in progress, and will be announced in the next few months.

The upcoming dental facility will be a full-fledged dental hospital with over 60 chairs, which will have all dental specialties under one roof, in addition to teaching and training the students of GMU’s College of Dentistry. The dental hospital will be constructed over an area of 30,000 sq feet in three floors. A hi-tech rehabilitation center hosting a unique state-of-the-art sports medicine, hydrotherapy unit, GAIT analysis lab and an ergonomic simulation lab that will promote analytical and therapeutic services will be constructed in three floors in an area of 30,000 square feet. The center will provide specialized physiotherapy services in the fields of musculoskeletal, cardio-respiratory, neurology, pediatrics and women's health. The center will also train the physical therapy students of the university.

"Across all our hospitals, we will bring together highly skilled professionals and the latest advancements in medical technology. They will be Centres of Excellence in various specialties, providing quaternary care," says Akbar Moideen Thumbay, vice-president of the healthcare division of Thumbay Group.

The Group is developing its various hospitals into centers of excellence with bone and joint as well as plastic surgery and cosmetics centres of excellence at Thumbay Hospital Dubai, and obstetrics and gynecology, IVF and fetal medicine and cardiac sciences centers of excellence in Ajman.Thumbay Hospital New Life – Hyderabad, will establish an Advanced Transplant Centre in India.

The new hospital will be a smart hospital with the most advanced robotics being used in pharmacy, lab and surgical procedures. Neurosciences, andrology and urology centers of excellence will also be established. It will be a quaternary care hospital and will play an important role in offering specialized care services like comprehensive transplant program and advanced oncology services.

"The international medical tourism department of Thumbay Hospitals aims to cater to an extensive number of patients and to be known as the preferred hospital for medical tourism in UAE," says Akbar Moideen Thumbay. As part of the strategic plans, Thumbay Group is planning to open representative offices in 20 countries to educate people about medical facilities and services at all Thumbay Hospitals in the UAE. "We expect to have about 1,000 medical tourists daily at our hospitals, in the next 5 – 6 years. It is ambitious but achievable," says an optimistic Akbar.