Cleveland Clinic has opened a new office in Saudi Arabia, with the primary focus of its new location to be medical education and training.
The office in the Saudi capital of Riyadh opened Sunday and employs three Clinic workers, Cleveland Clinic spokeswoman Eileen Sheil said.
“It’s not a clinical office where patients will be seen,” Sheil wrote in an email. “[The] primary purpose is medical education and training programs, e-second opinions, consulting as their healthcare system grows and patient support to Cleveland when requested.”
The Clinic has a long-standing relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that stretches back more than four decades, according to a statement announcing the office’s opening. “We have cared for many of their people,” Sheil said.
Thanks to its stellar international reputation, the Clinic for years has attracted wealthy VIPs from the Middle East, but recently has taken steps to establish its own presence in the region. In addition to the Saudi office, the Clinic is planning late this year to open a 360-bed multispecialty hospital in Abu Dhabi.
The Clinic is also actively seeking affiliation partnerships with domestic health systems, such as the heart-care deals it struck last summer with two North Carolina hospitals.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
For hospitals, the main benefit of establishing an affiliation agreement with the Clinic comes from the opportunity to improve care and quality through access to and implementation of the Clinic’s best practices and protocols. Affiliate hospitals also are able to use the Clinic’s name in marketing efforts.
“Sharing medical best practices and furthering the Cleveland Clinic’s mission across borders benefits patients worldwide,” Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove said in the statement.
