Central hospital of Abu Dhabi: Forty years of service to the community (1968-2008)

Abstract

In 2008, the "Central Hospital" of Abu Dhabi closed, bringing to an end a long period of service to that community. The site was completely demolished, allowing room for further developments of Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. For 40 years, Abu Dhabi "Central Hospital" had been the main health center for the multi-ethnic community of Abu Dhabi. It was the seed for the local health care system, and its staff made significant health care and academic contributions, particularly in the field of nephrology, infectious disease, and emergency medicine. Its academic contributions were remarkable, relative to its modest facilities. This history note aims to commemorate the life and contributions of this small, yet pioneering, institution to the health services, medical education, and research in the capital of this new nation. It gives an opportunity to pay tribute to all those who served in it at any stage of their career.

Early days of health service in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: A personal perspective

“…My anecdotes, such as the next one, reflect real life issues that occurred at Central Hospital that the Beshyah's would not have known about (1). In early 1971, a 60-year old lady with "measles" was admitted to a female ward which was common to medicine, surgery and paediatrics.…”

“…I became the sixth surgeon in the past 3 years to work at the Central Hospital, however I stayed for many years. In 1966 when Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, a man of great insight, became ruler of Abu Dhabi, he commissioned the building of Central Hospital to provide the best possible health care services for the local population (1). Dr Nazir Ahmad, his wife Dr Nafis Jehan (a gynaecologist) and Dr Costas (a Greek Cypriot ophthalmologist) were amongst the first physicians hired to work in the new hospital.…”

“…The authors, an Abu Dhabi physician and his son, a clinical medical student, reviewed the history of the early days of health care in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The article is a classic "medical historian's" account covering 40 years of medical service provided to the community by the Central Hospital, and was collected from multiple sources (1). Reading the early draft revived many old memories.…”