Press Release August  2008

 Expanding and Renovating the Isolation Ward at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City

The Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, managed by Cleveland Clinic, recently expanded its Isolation Ward to include 23 renovated beds; 15 of them in single rooms. Approximately 90% of the patients admitted to the Isolation Ward are patients that require temporary- or long-term protective isolation.

Dr Scott Strong and SKMC managers with the Isolation
Ward team members

 Dr. Scott Strong, Acting CEO, SKMC stated that " SKMC and Abu Dhabi Health Services Company - SEHA have an overall strategy to improve healthcare services offered by SKMC. Accordingly, we are proud to expand the Isolation Ward in the Medical Pavilion, which will increase capacity and meet the requirements of our patients who need to be in isolated rooms. The expansion will allow us to provide efficient and high quality healthcare to our patients in a more efficient and timely manner”.

Lewis Hutchison, Quality Director at SKMC, said “In accordance with its recent commitment and achievement in obtaining its Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation, SKMC recognizes the need to enhance infection control facilities and procedures. This new unit allows us to provide the very best practice in infection control management and enhance healthcare for the citizens of Abu Dhabi”.

“The ward has been renovated to provide better isolation. All isolation rooms now are specially designed for single patient use with negative pressure isolation and anterooms for additional safety”, Diane Presley, Regional Director of Nursing at SKMC, stated “Nursing staff in the isolation ward are dedicated, knowledgeable, and experienced in the specific needs of patients under isolation and are able to offer both physical and emotional support to them. The ward has 26 assigned nurses that have the required competencies pertaining to the needs of the isolated patients. These nurses are directly linked to the Infection Control team at SKMC and they closely work together”.

The Isolation Ward is located in the Medical Pavilion where an average of 640 patients are admitted every month to the seven different wards. Similarly, the Surgical Pavilion at SKMC admits an average of 501 patients every month.  During the first six months of year 2008, the total number of inpatients admitted to the Surgical Pavilion was 3007 while the total admitted inpatients in the Medical Pavilion was 3809.

The medical and surgical wards at SKMC strive for excellence in healthcare delivery by promoting and integrating the concepts of care, respect, participation, and accountability.

About SKMC

 Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), located in Abu Dhabi, UAE, operates under the management of Cleveland Clinic, named one of the top three hospitals in the USA by U.S. News and World Report. SKMC is owned by SEHA, the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company, recently established to oversee operations of all public hospitals in the Emirate.  SKMC is the flagship institution for the public health system in Abu Dhabi and has several 'Centers of Excellence,' and aspires to practice contemporary medicine comparable to the best hospitals and medical centers in the world. SKMC provides comprehensive healthcare services in all of the disciplines relevant to the needs and priorities of the community to attain the highest levels of patient satisfaction.

SKMC consists of a 550-bed Acute Care Hospital and 14 specialized outpatient clinics accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI).  In addition, SKMC manages a 120-bed Behavior Sciences Pavilion, a 90-bed Rehabilitation Center, 9 primary healthcare centers and 2 dental centers distributed over the city of Abu Dhabi.