David Hadley

Mediclinic Middle East has grown to become the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE, with seven hospitals and more than 20 clinics as well as a project in Saudi Arabia.

In what ways are the efforts to reach carbon neutrality impacting the health sectors and Mediclinic’s activities?

The healthcare sector can play a major role in achieving carbon neutrality. First of all, by reducing emissions and waste but secondly, by moving to sustainable and renewable energy. We already have an ESG strategy at Mediclinic in the Middle East and within it have objectives that are focused on how we can support the drive to carbon neutrality. For a start, we are devising ways to reduce our energy utilization. We have started to implement smart thermostats and systems, which have already reduced our consumption quite substantially in areas where implemented. This does not bring us to carbon neutrality, however, but merely reduces usage. In Abu Dhabi, we have been fortunate to be able to purchase green energy through ENEC, and as a result, we are the first healthcare company to obtain green energy certification. As soon it is available in Dubai, we will do the same. We will shortly remove single-use plastic completely from all of our facilities. As a London listed entity, we already have strong governance in place, and we are also currently running several initiatives as part of our previously announced plans to employ 1,000 Emiratis in the coming years, and we are making great headway on that. We are also dedicated to female diversity, having established a female diversity leadership forum, and we have various committees running throughout the organization. I am pleased that over the last year, 60% of our promotions were for females, which shows that these initiatives are already bearing fruits.

How do you see the role of R&D?

We have an innovation team and are scheduled to run hackathons throughout the organization this year that will hopefully produce some great ideas from our internal teams on how to address important issues facing the business. One of these is how to reach carbon neutrality.

Where do you see the local healthcare industry post Expo?

Expo achieved something fresh for the region, being highly educational in nature, with a great emphasis on sustainability. It also showcased the wonderful opportunities provided by choosing to make the UAE your home. More companies and individuals will want to relocate to the UAE. Expo was a massive advertising opportunity for the UAE and for Dubai specifically. The benefit for the healthcare sector from that perspective is the resulting need to provide more healthcare of better quality to keep pace with national development.

What are your expansion plans over the coming years?

In the UAE, we are already well established. We recently opened Mediclinic Parkview Hospital and also opened a new extension to Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital in Abu Dhabi. We are looking to expand one of our hospitals in Al Ain and are separately redeveloping our facilities, including a number of plans for Mediclinic City Hospital. We expect to see new opportunities for us in the UAE over the next few years, as nascent areas develop. We will be able to add primary care clinics and then, eventually, if the population continues to grow, additional hospitals. But right now, we only perceive a need for additional primary care clinics. Apart from the acquisition of the Bourn Hall IVF centers, we have invested into a home care business and we plan to expand it very rapidly across the UAE. More and more people want care at home and we need to embrace technology to facilitate this. We have a remote patient monitoring program using a chronic disease monitoring module. We are also busy piloting an app at the moment for people’s preventative needs. We also recently launched our precision medicine business in Dubai. Looking beyond the country, we have started our first hospital project in Jeddah that should open early next year. We plan to realize one in Riyadh as well and are actively looking at other countries in the region.