ABU DHABI: To meet the growing demand by a large Filipino community in the emirate, hospitals here are hiring more Filipino doctors and medical practitioners to break the language barrier and provide for better service.
They have also increased medical and outreach missions. “Since Filipino communities are very prominent in Abu Dhabi and around the UAE, we are very particular in ensuring that we give high quality service to them,” said Dr. Rajeev Pillai, head of Marketing and Corporate Health Services at Universal Hospital. For his part, Dr. Safeer Ahamed, head of the Medeor 24×7 Hospital, noting that Filipinos would usually feel more at ease talking to a Filipino doctor, said they are moving to have more doctors from the Philippines on board.
He said Medeor 24X7 has also been coordinating with the embassy as regards medical missions. “We are in the process of hiring more Filipino doctors,” he said.
“We go to the Filipino communities to better identify their needs and customize the program for them,” he added. Pillai said Universal Hospital currently has eight doctors on board, “but now we are in the process of recruiting more Filipino doctors and staff for the upcoming Kabayan Clinic because we want to have a Filipino team,” he said, referring to the hospital’s outreach program that will be launched in about two months.
“We want to give Filipinos the same utmost care they experience back in the Philippines,” Pillai said. Meantime, Ahamed said pneumonia, hypertension, myoma and diabetes are some of the common ailments afflicting Filipinos in Abu Dhabi. “Most of them are hypertensive. Hindi sila ma-convince mag-take ng medication, pero noong makausap nila yung mga Filipino doctors dito sa hospital, talagang na-convince sila, kasi iba talaga kung Filipino doctors yung nag-aasikaso sa kanila,”
Medeor 24X7 assistant manager Lourdes Atacador Hicalde said. “Gusto lang kasi nilang Filipino doctor kasi nagkakaintindihan,” she added. Hicalde said an estimated 6,000 Filipinos visited the hospital last month due to lifestyle-related health issues.
Various official estimates peg the number of Filipinos in Abu Dhabi at approximately 100,000 mostly in areas away from the city centers. Bearing this in mind, the hospital is now conducting medical missions in large Filipino communities across Abu Dhabi.
“They do not have any insurance card, so we are helping them get medication through the mission,” Hicalde said. The first medical mission was held last August 26 at Filipino Christian Church in Abu Dhabi. Some 100 Filipinos benefited from the free health screenings, Hicalde said.
