Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City recognised among world’s finest for oncology care
The Abu Dhabi institution has secured a place in Newsweek's 2027 rankings of specialised hospitals, reflecting its integrated approach to cancer treatment and commitment to clinical excellence.
Recognition from the world’s most respected healthcare benchmarks carries particular weight. Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City has been ranked among the globe’s finest hospitals for oncology in Newsweek’s World’s Best Specialised Hospitals 2027, placing second across the UAE and 219th internationally. The ranking acknowledges not merely the technical proficiency of its teams, but the thoughtful architecture of care that has come to define the institution.
The hospital’s oncology programme brings together an unusually comprehensive range of expertise. Medical, surgical and radiation oncology sit alongside haematology, advanced imaging and molecular diagnostics, each discipline coordinated within carefully designed cancer pathways. The therapeutic armamentarium spans chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapies; advanced radiation techniques; PET and SPECT imaging; and minimally invasive interventional procedures including microwave ablation, cryoablation, TACE and TARE. Genetic counselling and multidisciplinary tumour boards provide the human and intellectual infrastructure around which individual treatment plans take shape.
This integrated model reflects a deeper understanding of cancer care in its contemporary form. As treatments become increasingly personalised and scientifically sophisticated, patients require not a sequence of encounters with individual specialists, but a coordinated team whose expertise aligns around the particular needs of each person. Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City has structured its oncology services precisely around this principle, enabling specialists to design diagnosis and treatment pathways tailored to individual circumstances, including those presenting with complex or rare malignancies.
The recognition builds upon the institution’s recent Magnet Recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which celebrates nursing excellence and provides patients with confidence in the quality and safety of their care. Both achievements speak to a culture in which clinical excellence and patient experience interweave.
Dr. Marwan Al Kaabi, Chief Executive Officer of Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City, observed that the ranking represents recognition of the expertise the teams have cultivated and the model of cancer care the institution is advancing. By bringing world-class capabilities and advanced treatment options to Abu Dhabi, the hospital extends greater choice to patients and families from across the UAE and beyond at moments when such choice matters most.
Research infrastructure underpins the clinical work. The institution holds Joint Commission International accreditation and stands as the first hospital in the UAE to achieve JCI Academic Medical Centre status, integrating advanced clinical care with education and research. Through its Clinical Trials Unit, Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City conducts Phase I–IV research and other studies spanning oncology and haematology, including investigations into lung cancer, breast cancer, chronic myeloid leukaemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. Eligible patients may participate in research evaluating emerging treatments under established scientific and ethical protocols.
Source: WAM
What it means for Abu Dhabi
The recognition reinforces Abu Dhabi’s position as a destination for highly specialised healthcare. By concentrating expertise and advanced technology within the emirate, the institution enables patients and families to access world-class cancer care whilst remaining close to their support networks, reducing the necessity for medical travel to distant centres.
The achievement also reflects the broader commitment within Abu Dhabi to healthcare excellence as both a clinical imperative and a strategic priority. As we reported in September, Abu Dhabi hosted the Healthcare Leaders Summit, bringing together more than 3,000 healthcare professionals to define global standards of medical excellence. Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City’s international recognition demonstrates the tangible outcomes of this vision at the institutional level.