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Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business
Austria-based Wagner Health & Care, one of the world’s leading rehabilitation services provider, has joined hands with Dubai-based Canadian Specialist Hospital (CSH) to set up UAE’s first private rehabilitation centre in the Emirates. Emirates Business indulged in a free-wheeling talk with Ulrich Schwarzbauer, General Manager of Wagner Health & Care, on the close heels of its opening.
Excerpts from the interview
What kinds of preparations you have made to realise this project?
A complete floor of CSH was changed according to the requirements of a world-class rehabilitation department. In addition, all advanced equipment had to be shipped in to ensure the usage of the most cutting-edge technology. In addition, our physiotherapy department is now updated with some sophisticated devices that you will only find here throughout UAE.
It has been noticed that the rehabilitation centres, in this region, are lagging when compared with international standards, what is your view in this context?
Till now it was a common practice to send patients abroad for treatment in reputed rehabilitation centres. This was very expensive but the treatments were of international standards. We have adopted the same standards here in Dubai. We have already proven our expertise in Austrian healthcare system and we are replicating the same global model of wellness here in Dubai.
Can you classify the array of rehabilitation centres that have been launched under the flagship of Wagner Health & Care?
Wagner Health & Care operates 19 facilities with various branches in Austria and China, with a total of more than 2,000 beds and over 1,200 employees. The joint venture with CSH is our first project in the Middle East. Our centre will provide a total of 48 beds in super luxurious rooms for its medium and long term in-patient services in addition to its outpatient and day-care services.
How do you differentiate your centre from other competitors in the market?
We are delighted to offer the first in-patient rehabilitation service in Dubai. We are not only providing physiotherapy but our multi-disciplinary team of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, nutritionists and medical psychologists are also offering many rare therapies like electrotherapy, thermal therapy, nutrition counseling and different types of massages based on European standards. In addition, we are allowing our patients, based on their health condition, to go out for specially-designed excursions after the treatments.
What additional amenities you are offering at the centre?
Besides regular treatments, we are also offering excursions, sightseeing and shopping trips after to our patients. All these programmes are executed under strict supervision of our experts. These programmes also depend up on the health
condition and recovery pace of our patients.
Please tell us about different packages that you are offering.
We have created different packages for orthopedics, metabolic diseases, cardiology, neurology and oncology at the Rehabilitation Department. The price varies depending on the preferences of the patients and the services chosen by them, for example room type – double bed, single bed, or suite.
What advancements you would like to predict in the industry in the coming years?
Technology is advancing very rapidly and high-level of researches are going on to improve the existing techniques in future. I feel it will significantly help in the treatment in the coming years as final results would be prior-research driven. Also, in the coming years, rehabilitation will be more important as the patients would want to get fully independent in their daily routines after the treatment.
