United States Report
ies and spending millions to reverse the trend of Americans leaving the United States and taking with them an estimated $15 billion in revenue for what are primarily affordable elective treatments abroad. In Minnesota, the state legislature approved $585 million in funding to upgrade infrastructure in Rochester and enhance the appeal of the Mayo Clinic. The international Center of Excellence has already put $5 million towards expansion of the latter to solidify its footing as a “global medical destination centre”. Partnerships While competition for international patients can be fierce, not all of the battles are being waged on US soil. Some US hospitals see the opportunity to reinforce existing relationships or establish new partnerships that are enabling patients to stay in the Middle East and receive world-class care to treat digestive disease, eye, heart, vascular and neurological disorders, and respiratory conditions, amongst others. In a move, leading US hospital Cleveland Clinic opened a state-of-the-art hospital in Abu Dhabi. The 750-bed facility is the sole responsibility of Cleveland Clinic, the first major academic medical centre in the United States to manage both the hospital and delivery of care in the Middle East. The opening comes on the heels of an agreement between Dubai Healthcare City and Houston Methodist Global Health Care Services, which will provide education and training initiatives at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academic Medical Center. The Methodist Hospital in Houston has ongoing agreements that provide for a continuum care in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins is in talks with the Kuwait Ministry of Health to provide consulting services for hospital management, medical education, patient safety, nursing, preventative medicine and healthcare policy. In yet another venture, the international healthcare giant is providing similar services for Saudi Aramco, a global petroleum company owned by the Saudi government. Strength in numbers Global collaborations like these, while creating a magnet to forge new revenue streams and strengthen brand recognition, at its essence helps save lives and improves the care of patients. For example, the health of paediatric cancer patients, has significantly improved since the Dana Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center in Boston partnered with the Egypt Cancer Center and Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt (CCHE) to create Middle East-
About the Author Renée-Marie Stephano is president of the Medical Tourism Association, a non-profit traded organisation she co-founded to advance healthcare options – both quality and affordable – to meet the needs of consumers and providers and to help transition and sustain economic development in regional, national and international communities. To this end, she engages government officials including ministers of health, tourism and economic development to pursue public-private partnerships in support of both international and local healthcare goals.
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based training programs for local oncologists. In fact, although survival rates for childhood cancers are well behind the numbers found in Western countries, cure rates at CCHE are now on a par with those in the US. However, at the same time, the demand for quality services has increased so much that five out of seven children hoping to be admitted to CCHE are turned away. Understandably, there is still a shortage of expertise and resources. However, one Egyptian-American girl living in the United States was determined to do something about it. After learning of the plight of the copious children with cancer in the Middle East, eight-year-old Lobna asked that, in solidarity with these patients, gifts for her birthday be donated to CCHE for sorely needed beds.