Since its inception in 2019 as a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) and Mayo Clinic, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC) has set new benchmarks in healthcare, redefining healthcare excellence, not just in Abu Dhabi but also across the region.
This extends across various fronts — from conducting highly complex surgical procedures and earning recognition from government and healthcare authorities to enhancing the overall patient experience. Simultaneously, SSMC has been dedicated to the growth and development of its practitioners and staff, while driving forward in the realms of research and education.
These combined efforts have contributed to SSMC being one of the largest tertiary care hospitals in the UAE. This is well aligned with the nation’s mission to establish Abu Dhabi as a prominent global healthcare destination, as it advances on its journey to becoming a ‘Destination Medical Center’ for the region, backed by a robust infrastructure backbone.
SSMC has 732 patient beds, 18 operating theatres including a hybrid operating room, a 26-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and the UAE’s largest pathology lab. This allows the hospital to serve 5,000 patients each week, supported by a team of locally and internationally trained physicians and allied health professionals who work seamlessly together to provide integrated human-centric and compassionate care, while promoting comprehensive interdisciplinary learning.
Patient-first approach
At the core of SSMC’s unique model of care is putting the needs of patients first and foremost. Every aspect of care revolves around providing compassionate patient-centred care by a multidisciplinary team of experts within a fully comprehensive, multispecialty practice, supported by education and research.
In line with this, SSMC has year-on-year boosted its approach to patient safety and quality of care. The hard work has paid off not just in the form of positive results and systematic improvement, but also through accreditations and certifications — such as the Joint Commission International Accreditation, a widely recognised symbol of quality and patient safety.
Staff education and training also optimises the overall patient experience. Through staff training sessions, hospital personnel are empowered with the skills needed to listen, validate, and effectively manage concerns that patients and their families may have. This has greatly contributed to an annual growth in patient satisfaction, indicative of SSMC’s deep understanding of patient care. By engaging and empowering frontline staff to transform overall patient services, outpatient satisfaction rose from 60 per cent in 2020 to 65 per cent in 2022 and inpatient satisfaction rates increased from 67 per cent to 72 per cent over the same period.
Over the past year, SSMC has expanded its robotic surgery programme to include general surgery and gynaecologic surgery, complementing ongoing robotics work in urology and colorectal surgery. Recently, it also introduced the latest and unique version of a robotic-assisted surgical system to conduct knee joint replacement procedures with greater precision and accuracy compared to conventional surgical methods. The robotics-assisted approach ensures that the surgeon remains in full control throughout the procedure and contributes to enhancing surgical results with short and long-term outcomes for patients.
Advances in robotics provide quality surgical care that is less invasive, reduces the risk of blood loss and pain, and helps patients recover more quickly, which has seen the number of robotic surgeries rise from 20 cases in 2021 to 90 cases in 2022.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is another area that holds immense promise for healthcare, helping practitioners improve diagnostic accuracy with less need for invasive procedures. SSMC has continued to incorporate AI in care delivery by becoming the first hospital in the Middle East to launch an academy for upskilling medical practitioners using the AI-guided point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) device. Another innovation at SSMC is the introduction of AI-guided colonoscopy to identify smaller polyps that are typically difficult to detect.
SSMC’s appetite for innovation and excellence has seen it achieve a number of ‘firsts’ and key milestones, including:
• SSMC being recognised as a Centre of Excellence for stroke in Abu Dhabi. • SSMC becoming a level-one trauma centre for intensive care, trauma injuries and burns in Abu Dhabi.
• SSMC offering a new treatment for patients living with myasthenia gravis
• SSMC’s accreditation as an education institute from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
• The first Zenker’s peroral endoscopic myotomy (Z-POEM)
• Abu Dhabi’s first gynaecological robotic surgery
Advancing research and education
SSMC recognises the role that investments in education and research play in enhancing patient care. To date, our research achievements amount to over 87 studies in various stages. The SSMC research shield continues to push forward the frontiers of medical knowledge to improve patient care.
Earlier in 2023, SSMC opened a dedicated Clinical Trials Unit to set a new benchmark for innovative research and development in the UAE and the region. Clinical trials offer patients access to cutting-edge treatments and help respond to pressing present and future health challenges.
The education pillar is a major driver of SSMC’s status as a preferred medical institution for serious and complex care. In 2022, more than 513 learners from the UAE and the wider Middle East region were trained in the hospital’s five education centres, while 119 medical students were trained at SSMC, guiding a new set of expert healthcare professionals into the workstream. Meanwhile, more than 10,000 attendees gained access to exclusive educational events, guest lectures and conferences, keeping up the spirit of learning for all.
Committed to sustainability
SSMC’s onus to serve the community also goes beyond healthcare. Sustainability is an important facet of its culture, and the hospital has undertaken measures to enable more sustainable operations and reduce negative impacts on the environment, without undermining the level and quality of patient care.
These include limiting the use of harmful, wasteful, and non-recyclable products; sorting and recycling waste; replacing plastic bags with paper and recycled bags; a strict waste segregation process for general and catering waste; and using cleaner fuels for vehicles provided by the transportation office.
Furthermore, in line with SSMC’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, the hospital has permanently discontinued the use of Desflurane, an environmentally harmful anaesthetic, and replaced it with other inhaled anesthetics, which are just as effective.
SSMC’s Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Department was also recently awarded second place at the first Lab Sustainability Awards held at Medlab Middle East 2023, signifying efforts made in creating sustainable laboratory areas and linking with one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
In every corner of SSMC, we strive to foster innovation to meet the evolving needs of patients in the UAE and wider region.
To deliver holistic, transformational and human-centric care for each and every one of our patients, we are committed to developing the best workforce, bringing the newest technology, resources and processes together to provide a “category of one” service. Join us on this incredible journey toward a healthier, sustainable, and brighter future.
