Although Dubai is widely regarded as the leading healthcare city of the United Arab Emirates, with its several new projects and living area developments, Abu Dhabi hospitals do their very best to keep up with the competition and to get closer to the standards of Dubai. Today the number of Abu Dhabi hospitals has drastically increased having a good network of quality medical institutes all around the capital city.
Currently there are seven Abu Dhabi hospitals which are operated by the local government and around fifteen private hospitals where the healthcare costs money. Let us include the list of the main hospitals of Abu Dhabi:
Governmental Abu Dhabi Hospitals:
Al Mafraq Hospital, Corniche Hospital, National Hospital, Delma Island Hospital, Sheikh Khalifa Medial City, Zayed Military Hospital – non-public hospital.
Private Abu Dhabi Hospitals:
American European Medical Centre, Al Noor Hospital, Al Salama Hospital, Al Manara International Hospital, Dar Al Shifa Hospital, Gulf Diagnostic Centre, Life Line Hospital, Al Raha Hospital, New Medical Centre, Franco-Emirien, Bangladesh Medical Hopital.
It’s important to note that the emergency dial of Abu Dhabi is 998. Abu Dhabi locals and expats living in the city often visit also the hospitals of Al Ain as Al Ain is very close to Abu Dhabi. Al Ain also has some real quality private hospitals next to the brand new Abu Dhabi hospitals which have been built in the last five years.
Abu Dhabi normally works with the same medical requirements as Dubai does. Visitors don’t need health certificate with the exception of those nationals who arrive from areas which are notorious for some diseases, located mainly in Africa. Those who wish to stay longer, work and live in Abu Dhabi will need health card and will to make the necessary medical check in one of the governmental hospitals of Abu Dhabi. For the health card, you will need to take your copies of passport, the visa application form, two passport sized photos and the filled application form for the health card. Although its been forecasted there are some differences expected according to the health care requirements of the two main cities of the Emirates, obtaining the health card in Abu Dhabi has the same importance and in Dubai and the visa is subject to the health card.
Abu Dhabi hospitals are not yet so specialised and high in numbers as the Dubai hospitals Abu Dhabi’s answer to the huge Dubai Healthcare city is their own Sheikh Khalifa Medical City which although not a complex of more hospitals, had been the first renovated hospitals of Abu Dhabi which gave medical care to non-local people too. This hospital is still the largest hospital of Abu Dhabi, offering overall care options.
Abu Dhabi hospitals are also targeting the importance of medical studies and several private and governmental hospitals have also teaching facilities for doctor–to–be-s and nurse-to-be-s. The American–European Medical Centre of Abu Dhabi is among the most important expat facilities located on the Airport Road of the capital. There are talks of even more hospitals and specialised medical institutes to be built very soon too to add the extra edge to Abu Dhabi hospitals too.