Middle Eastern Patients "Can We Now Avoid Flying?"... Top Domestic Hospital's First Medical Export

Seoul Asan Medical Center is exporting its medical system to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Seoul Asan Medical Center plans to establish the first gastroenterology specialty hospital in Dubai Healthcare City 2, UAE, by 2026, providing advanced treatments such as gastrointestinal cancer, liver transplantation management, and bariatric surgery locally. Until now, due to the lack of advanced local medical technology in the UAE, patients with severe conditions had to board flights to Korea for surgery. Seoul Asan Medical Center aims to dispatch medical staff to the UAE to transfer medical know-how and improve the quality of international healthcare, thereby strengthening the status of ‘K-Medicine.’

To this end, Seoul Asan Medical Center announced on the 22nd that it has signed an operating agreement for the ‘UAE Asan Gastroenterology Hospital’ (tentative name) with the local investment company Scope Investment. Seoul Asan Medical Center will be responsible for patient care and medical staff training on-site, while Scope Investment will provide the necessary funding for the project. This marks the first time Seoul Asan Medical Center is exporting medical services overseas.

Although the UAE has a high economic level, its medical capabilities remain relatively low. Due to reduced physical activity caused by the hot climate and Westernized dietary habits, the health indicators of UAE nationals are worsening. One in five UAE nationals suffers from gastrointestinal diseases such as acid reflux, ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Farid Bilbeisi, CEO of Scope Investment, said, “With the goal of improving the health of UAE nationals, we approached Seoul Asan Medical Center in 2019 with a proposal to establish the first local hospital to bring Korea’s advanced medical technology to the UAE.” Regarding the choice of Seoul Asan Medical Center among many hospitals, he stated, “Not only because it is Korea’s top hospital, but also because many UAE patients have been treated at Asan Medical Center with very high satisfaction. Seoul Asan Medical Center has played a pioneering role in the UAE.”

The UAE Asan Gastroenterology Hospital will provide treatment for all gastrointestinal diseases including stomach, colon, liver, bile duct, and pancreas, as well as early-stage gastrointestinal cancer treatment. Since three out of ten UAE nationals are obese, treatments and surgeries for severe obesity will also be conducted.

Postoperative care for liver transplant patients from the Middle East will also be provided. Since the local medical technology for living-donor liver transplantation is unavailable in the Middle East, the UAE government has been sending its patients to Korean hospitals with 100% government funding since 2011. Over the past decade, 65 patients have received liver transplants at Seoul Asan Medical Center, and the plan is to enable them to receive necessary postoperative care locally.

The hospital will initially have 65 beds, including an intensive care unit. Six to seven doctors and four to five nurses from Asan Medical Center will be dispatched, with the remainder of the staff composed of local medical personnel. Thanks to the well-established local brand reputation, the contract was structured to minimize the outflow of medical expertise. Choi Jong-woo, head of Seoul Asan Medical Center’s Overseas Hospital Business Division, said, “Without separate capital investment, we will receive operating fees including personnel costs, a portion of sales over 15 years, and incentives, and one of the five directors on the operating committee will be an Asan representative, securing management rights.”

Through the operation of the UAE Asan Gastroenterology Hospital, Asan Medical Center plans to elevate international medical standards. Park Seung-il, president of Seoul Asan Medical Center, stated, “By educating local medical staff, we will contribute to improving medical standards in the Middle East region and strengthen our international status as a global hospital.”