SADEQ ALKHOORI (ABU DHABI)
Abu Dhabi is set to add more specialised rehabilitation capacity as demand grows for long-term recovery care after strokes, spinal injuries, surgeries, sports injuries and neurological conditions.
Specialised Rehabilitation Hospital (SRH), under Capital Health, has broken ground on a major extension that is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2028. The project will expand the hospital's inpatient, outpatient, surgical and rehabilitation services, bringing its total capacity to more than 230 inpatient rehabilitation beds.
The expansion will also include more than 30 outpatient clinics and treatment rooms, around 12 Bayt Al Qudra rehabilitation gyms and additional services in orthopaedic care, neurosciences, sports medicine, physical medicine and cardiac rehabilitation.
Dr Mishal Al Qasimi, CEO of Specialised Rehabilitation Hospital and Health Shield Medical Center, said the expansion responds to rising demand from patients in Abu Dhabi, the wider UAE and neighbouring Gulf countries.
"Today, we have reached a point where our capacity is around 95%, and sometimes operational capacity reaches 99%," he said.
Dr Al Qasimi said the hospital was originally established to reduce the social and economic burden on patients and families who previously had to travel abroad to access specialised rehabilitation services.
"The main goal was to reduce the social and economic burden on our patients and families in Abu Dhabi, especially the burden of travelling abroad to access these services," he said.
The new extension will allow SRH to add services that are not currently available at the same scale, including orthopaedic surgery, knee replacement procedures, expanded sports medicine services and wider rehabilitation support for children and patients with neurological conditions.
Dr Al Qasimi said the model is designed to connect surgery and rehabilitation within one patient pathway, allowing patients to access care before and after surgery in the same centre.
The development will also include three operating rooms, including what the hospital described as a future operating room equipped with artificial intelligence and AI-based technologies.
The expansion comes amid wider investment in rehabilitation care In Abu Dhabi. In February, SEHA, part of PureHealth, had partnered with Germany's Schoen Clinic Group to enhance rehabilitation services in the UAE and Gulf region.
The SRH project is expected to support Abu Dhabi's specialised healthcare capacity and reduce the need for patients to seek complex rehabilitation treatment abroad.