The Zulekha Hospital in Dubai that opened for the public Sunday morning is a structure of geometrical precision, simple on the outside, patient-friendly inside; the operation theatres are high-tech wonders linked to one another in one modular whole ...

all this the creation of specialist hospital designers who have taken the chore of building hospitals to an altogether different level - professionalism backed with experience, and a single-minded passion.
The people who do that - Hosmac India Pvt. Ltd., hospital planning and management consultants. The company has a couple of other hospital projects in Dubai going, including one in the Safa area.

The multi-speciality 75-bed new Zulekha Hospital - situated at Al Nahda 2, the "very cusp" of Dubai and Sharjah - spans an area of 82,000 square feet. It stands on leased land allotted to the Zulekha Healthcare Group to cater to the healthcare needs of patients from both the emirates.
You have to enter the hospital to get a taste of the wonder. The hospital's interiors have a friendly face and the facilities are available at the touch of a button.

If an accident victim (Heaven's No!), the discoveries will start from the emergency, which opens on to the hospital front gate - marked by easy and prompt access, and a series of quick service thereafter. You will get the feeling (if you are conscious) of being on a conveyor belt.
Health services get a boost

" Hosmac believes that the health care industry is extremely complex in terms of the wide spectrum of specialities, technologies, and the skilled/unskilled manpower. The smooth interplay of these factors only will lead to a successful health care organisation. The alarming rise in cost for providing quality health care will drive hospitals to cut costs rather than only enhancing revenue," says Uday Kumar, a Hosmac representative in Dubai, and who was at hand at the Zulekha Hospital in Dubai to answer to queries from the media.

Shams Taher, president Zulekha Healthcare Group, said that Hosmac was given complete freedom to design and build the hospital. "Sometimes we did object to a certain aspect of the project but whenever we raised them, Hosmac had a sound reason to back up their decision. We knew they were a bunch of professionals."

" Our goal," said Taher, "is to provide excellent healthcare facilities under one roof and be committed to offering quality care at affordable prices. We will carry on our philosophy of 'continuous improvement' to extend out services."

The new hospital is the second hospital of the group, which started as a small clinic in Sharjah in the 1960s. The Zulekha Hospital in Sharjah, Dr Zulekha Daud's dreamchild, is today one of the most well-known and trusted healthcare establishments of the region.

" The new hospital will have super-speciality departments such as cardiology, neurology, endocrinology, plastic surgery and laparoscopy in addition to speciality departments of general surgery, orthopaedics, internal medicine, obstetrics & gynaecology, paediatrics and dermatology," said Taher.

Part of the credit for the new hospital goes to the Dubai government which quietly went about to make the dream of a hospital in this area of the emirate a possibility, beginning with the allotment of land.

" True we went ahead after a feasibility study and report but the encouragement came from the government. The land we got from the government. We said we want to build a hospital in this area, they said build over here," said Taher.

The hospital already has a complement of 24 highly qualified doctors who will treat patients with the help of some of the most advanced facilities and equipment. "To reduce patient waiting time, the hospital has multiple consultant doctors in each speciality so that more patients can be attended to at one time," said Zanubia Shams, CEO of the group.
The hospital was built and equipped at a cost of 60 million dirhams. "We didn't have buy the land, that came on lease," said Taher, adding that he had no doubts that the hospitals will have patients. "We are surrounded by residential areas ..Al Nahda, Merdif, the entire area surrounding the hospital will be residential, we on the borders of Sharjah and Dubai, we will get patients from both emirates.'

Uday Kumar led a tour of the hospital building - basement and four floors. Business development manager Dr Kishen Pakkal said climbing the "five floors at times left him breathless" but that patients and relatives need not worry on that score because "there's quick and effortless elevation ensured".

Kumar kept up a monotone: "There are two receptions ...one for those who pay right out, and the other for those on insurance. The emergency opens out on to the front gate. It's all high-tech, in line with international standards. Gleaming hospital machines, a resuscitation chamber and op-theatre for immediate surgeries; the washrooms are the new assisted types. There's a new-spangled 'shower' to drench wash any picked up infections in the lab, which will have samples 'powered' up to it, and will be ISO certified. The gynaecologists, that's paediatrics - look at the colour schemes.... This is cosmetology ...floored, aren't you? The ENT... we have this audiometry room, sound-proofed. And this is neuro sciences wing. The ICUs, the paediatric ICUs, two labour rooms. These are the operation theatres, getting fumigated at the moment..."

" The hospital has a unique modular operating room to minimize hospital acquired infection in surgical patients. The hospital's IT enabled service would also ensure that processes such as patient registration, maintenance of medical records and administrative procedures become more efficient," said Kumar.

There will be 24 hours emergency services like ambulance, pharmacy and trauma care. Besides of course a cafeteria. Patient's relatives attending on families members in the ICU will have limited access - one member at a time.
" In Sharjah all's fine. We are on a roll...daily at least 400 patients. We think we will make a mark here too, soon," said Dr Pakkal. "There will be competition but competition is good, both for us and for the patient. The government wants competition. Dubai is growing, the population is growing and needs are growing, even for doctors and hospitals. There's room for more, and for everyone. The best ones will survive."