Zulekha to tap bank loans

UAE’s Zulekha Hospital plans to raise Dh500 million through bank loans and internal resources for its expansion and doubling of staff in the next couple of years, its chief executive said.

Zanubia Shams said the group will expand its Dubai facility, open a new hospital in India as well as review options of starting operations in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah.

The group, she said, will expand its existing facility in Al Qusais, Dubai, which will open in 2017 and the number of employees are expected to be doubled to 2,000 upon completion.

The advanced specialized centre will offer oncology treatment - including medical oncology, radiation oncology, oncology imaging and palliative medicine.

Shams said: “In the UAE currently we are just reviewing our options… In Abu Dhabi, we have been studying our options and are on the verge of finalising some plans (for) a hospital… We are in the final stages,” she told ‘Emirates 24l7’.

The group recently finished expanding its Sharjah hospital.

“In Sharjah, we have 500 staff and gearing up to hire more; so next year or so we will be doubling staff including doctors, nurses and others with the expansion and opening of different sections.

We feel that the facility in Sharjah, as we understand the market scenario, is serving the Northern Emirates fairly well in the next couple of years,” Shams said.

The group invested Dh200 million in Sharjah facility expansion.

Commenting on Ras Al Khaimah expansion, she said there was a project in the pipeline but the group is waiting to see the outcome of RAK Government’s expansion of its healthcare facilities. “We want to work with the government and ensure that we complement those services. So we need to know what the facilities will look like, bring in a facility that creates an environment that enhances the utility of their facility and also help our business.”

Finance

Replying to a query about the financing options for the expansion, Shams said: “The expansion will be financed with a combination of both internal financing and bank financing… We are still working out the details of those costs. We would most probably be going for a combination of both somewhere around Dh500 million in the next three years.”

The group has recently increased consultancy fees due to rising costs and staff salaries.

The UAE healthcare industry is getting fatter year-on-year with residents annual spending expected to jump 10 per cent to Dh66 billion ($18 billion) this year, Business Monitor International (BMI) said.

Spending on healthcare by UAE residents totalled Dh60 billion last year.

Dubai residents alone spent Dh10 billion on healthcare in 2012, the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) said recently.

Zulekha Hospital owns hospitals and medical centres in Dubai and Sharjah.

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