Dr Reem Osman, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Saudi German Hospital (SGH) Dubai. She holds a Masters degree in eye diseases and surgery, and also in Business Administration, from Wollongong University Sydney, Australia . In this with interview with AJUMA EDWINA OGIRI, Dr. Osman speaks on plans to establish the hospital in Nigeria, how the hospital intends to boost healthcare services for Nigerians, and its training programmes for Nigerian doctors, among others.
About the Saudi German Hospital Dubai
The Saudi German Hospital Dubai is part of the Saudi German Hospital group , one of the healthcare pioneers in the region and currently operating eight tertiary care hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and Egypt .
The Saudi German Hospital Dubai offers a wide range of medical services which includes all the major specialties and sub-specialties, along with an advanced critical care unit which adheres to the highest international standards.
It is a Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited, and Trust effective Medicine Optimized services (TEMOS), and Medical Travel Quality Alliance (MTQUA) certified hospital. It has all major departments with 300 beds, and was awarded best private hospital in 2016.
We are modelled on patient-centric approach , as we follow our motto: “We Care”. The critical care and emergency units are one of the largest facilities available in Dubai . We have all the major specialities like heart surgery, cancer care, brain and spine surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology, among others.
We have almost 200 full time doctors with us and a good bunch of international visiting professors from Germany.
On partnership between Saudi German Hospital Dubai and Nigerian health system
We are trying to partner with medical organisations in Nigeria for skill enhancement like conducting medical education programs, training of doctors, nurses and management staff , and to add value for the healthcare system in Nigeria.
Also we are looking for partnership with our Batterjee medical college in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Nigerian medical colleges, for training of students. We also want to invite medical students for training and doctors for observation programs.
Influence of Saudi German Hospital’s healthcare services for Nigerians, inspite of economic downturn
The quality of services will always be on higher side. We are offering support to patients by offering more discounts. Also for long term cancer patients, we are providing special packages to take care of their treatments. Most cases coming from Nigeria are related to brain and spine surgeries, followed by cancer and cardiac cases.
Hospital’s kick-off on Nigerian soil
At the moment, we are in the phase of doing a market study on which city to start our hospital, as Nigeria is a large country, and every location has potentials.
We are also analysing which specialities are in demand for the healthcare in the country. We are also trying to identify the right partner either in public or the private sector. Our brand is very popular in the country with a lot of demand from patients.
Latest medical breakthroughs and advancement in technology achieved or adopted by hospital in treatment of patients
We are pioneers in technology advancements, like automation and electronic patient records which ensures patient safety and satisfaction.
Also we encourage our medical team to enhance their skills by attending conferences and seminars. We run training programs in house every fortnight.
We have lots of very successful patient cases published in the media regularly. We have also successfully treated several cancer cases from Nigeria. In addition, we are the first hospital in the private sector in Dubai to introduce Pharma robot to reduce medication errors and waiting time. Our group always follows the latest medical advancements and technologies to be incorporated in our hospital.
Plans for Nigerians
Nigeria is a large beautiful country with abundant natural resources and human capital.
The future of Nigeria lies in the hands of the young educated population. While travelling across the United Kingdom and the United States of America. I have met several Nigerian doctors and medical staff in top positions in hospitals and medical universities across the world. So the infrastructure of the medical facilities to be developed to bring them back to home country.
We have a good experience with our Nigerian patients visiting our hospital; we provide them with support in visa, airport transfers and accommodation. We try our best so the patients have best experience. A patient needs to have trust in the hospital he visits, in order to receive the maximum possible cure for his or her condition.
We are happy to be a trusted brand, we are also flexible with payment terms for long term patients. The patients from Nigeria are friendly and give utmost respect to our staff. So we try our best to meet the expectation of the patients.