Kanad (Oasis) Hospital

Al Ain, translated “The Spring,” is a city located in the eastern part of United Arab Emirates. This rather wealthy country is situated just southeast of Saudi Arabia and bordered by the Gulf of Oman. The city of 800,000 is modern, with shopping malls, an excellent zoo, movie theaters, abundant restaurants, and entertainment including camel riding. Low humidity in Al Ain, particularly during the summers May through September, makes it a popular destination at that time of year. The cooler season, when a jacket may be required, lasts from October through April.

Become familiar with United Arab Emirates culture, history and economy by reviewing the Wikipedia United Arab Emirates Profile. Rich resources for United Arab Emirates health information include the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation IHME United Arab Emirates Country Profile and the World Health Organization Global Health Observatory United Arab Emirates Data.

Patients coming for care at Kanad Hospital represent a wide variety of backgrounds, including often-educated local citizens and foreign workers of lesser economic status. The latter are frequently from the Indian subcontinent. Diabetes is extremely prevalent, as are other common chronic disease states. HIV and malaria are encountered only infrequently.

Most patients speak English, as do all the physicians and hospital staff. Translation is available for those patients who do not speak English.

Kanad Hospital enjoys a fascinating history. It is the birthplace of the two most recent Emirati rulers: the late His Highness Sheikh Khalifa and the current President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ). The founders of Kanad Hospital, Drs. Pat and Marian Kennedy first arrived in 1960 at the invitation of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan – ruler of Abu Dhabi Emirate and president of the UAE from 1971-2004. At that time only 50 percent of babies survived and one in three mothers died during childbirth. Because of this and other endemic diseases like tuberculosis, malaria, eye diseases, intestinal parasites, the population of Al Ain was actually declining.

From its humble beginnings chiefly as a maternity center, Kanad Hospital has grown to a comprehensive, state-of-the-art facility with 80+ physicians, 130 beds, serving almost 150,000 outpatients and 4,000 deliveries each year. Services provided include family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology with maternal-fetal medicine and infertility treatment, internal medicine, surgical specialties, ENT, ophthalmology, orthopedics, urology, occupational therapy, social services, urgent care, and pharmacy. Kanad Hospital has modern radiology equipment, a full service laboratory, and utilizes an electronic medical record system.

Kanad Hospital is governed by an international Board of Directors from True Sojourners. Kanad Hospital became the first non-government hospital in the emirate of Abu Dhabi to receive Accreditation by the Joint Commission International – an internationally recognized organization focused on improving the safety of patient care.

Some eighty physicians make up the medical staff of Kanad Hospital, including specialists from each major medical field. A wide variety of nationalities are represented, many of whom trained in the United States. They have included Dr. James Thompson, the 2005 Virginia Academy of Family Physicians State Teacher of the Year. Among Kanad Hospital’s celebrities are Dr. Larry Liddle, a physician from the United States, and his wife Marilyn, a registered nurse, were recognized for more than 32 years of service at the Kanad Hospital in Al Ain.

Telephone and Internet services are also available through the hospital.

Kanad Hospital