Finnish Minister of Social Affairs and Health Visits Gulf Medical University, calls it ‘Impressive Academic Health System’
UAE: Gulf Medical University (GMU), Ajman had the pleasure of hosting a high-level delegation from Finland led by the Ms Pirkko Mattila, Minister of Social Affairs and Health for Finland on Wednesday, February 1, 2017. The delegation included Ms Riitta Swan, Ambassador of Finland and a host of other esteemed dignitaries from the healthcare sector, education and business industries.
The delegation was received by Thumbay Moideen – Founder, President of Board of Governors of GMU, Prof. Hossam Hamdy – Chancellor of GMU, Prof. Gita Ashok Raj – GMU Provost and the Deans of various colleges under GMU. The delegation was presented with the vision and mission of GMU. They toured the educational and research facilities in the campus, including the different ongoing projects of the hospitals and medical centers in the campus.
The delegates thanked the University leadership for the reception and expressed admiration for GMU’s facilities, programs and future strategic directions. They also discussed possible areas of collaboration with GMU and its affiliated Thumbay network of academic hospitals and clinics. The business leaders held detailed deliberation with the academic leadership of GMU led by Prof. Hossam Hamdy, seeking possible avenues of cooperation with regard to GMU’s expanding infrastructure and healthcare services network, with special emphasis on collaborations in training programs as well as benefiting from the experience of Finnish doctors and healthcare professionals.
Speaking at the conclusion of the visit, Ms Pirkko Mattila said, “We had some very promising discussions today between some of the Finnish companies, healthcare professionals and educators, and the leadership of GMU. I am very honored to be here and what I saw here has been quite impressive. While everyone else is talking about technology, digitalization, innovation etc., GMU is also talking about human resources development, which is crucial to develop and support the healthcare systems of the UAE and the Gulf. What I have seen at GMU is a very holistic approach. We look forward to building more opportunities for collaboration and cooperation.”
Ms Riitta Swan said regarding the visit, “Visiting the Gulf Medical University has been a very pleasant experience. This is my second visit here, in the last 2-3 weeks, which shows our interest to cooperate with GMU. I can only admire what GMU has developed here, in all the fields like education, healthcare and research. I really hope we can find more and more opportunities to collaborate in these areas.”
Prof. Hossam Hamdy stressed the importance of continuous dialogue and relationship-building between GMU and healthcare institutions in Finland. He expressed GMU’s eagerness to explore areas of collaboration, in view of the remarkable accomplishments by Finland in several areas. He said, “GMU is building its state-of-the-art teaching hospital of 350 beds, raising the bed capacity of its teaching hospitals to 700 beds and 6 clinics and around 40 pharmacies. The new project includes the new dental hospital and the largest rehabilitation center in the UAE. Discussion is ongoing exploring the possibilities of bringing in Finnish expertise in developing and operating the rehabilitation center. We hope to follow this up with a visit to Finland, to meet counterparts, as we consider Finland as one of the leading countries in the areas of healthcare delivery, preventive medicine, the health of the society, healthcare manpower development, doctors etc., to establish partnerships in different areas.”
