Craig Cook

What is Aviv Clinics?

Aviv Clinics is a wholly owned subsidiary of DP World. We’re a specialty clinic focused on brain performance and brain health and are home to one of the world’s most advanced Hyperbaric Oxygen programmes, which involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurised environment. 

We are positioned at the forefront of Dubai’s healthcare tourism industry, and have a team of leading physicians, neuropsychologists, physiotherapists and operations professionals, who leverage the best of medical science and technology to treat age-related cognitive and functional decline, as well as traumatic brain injuries, fibromyalgia, PTSD, Lyme disease and neurological symptoms caused by COVID-19.

Tell us a little about your professional background

I am an Australian national, and have 30 years of experience leading hotels in the Middle East, Asia and Caribbean. I first began applying to healthcare the leadership lessons I learned from my hospitality career at the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi. 

After I started the ball rolling at Cleveland, I have since seen other healthcare organisations in the region take a hospitality-first leadership approach.”

Explain Aviv’s ’concierge approach’ to healthcare

Bringing hospitality leadership values and top-tier operational expertise to healthcare is what I refer to as the ‘concierge approach’. It was my father’s terminal cancer diagnosis that inspired my move into healthcare. I felt it was an opportunity to give back to society. 

Once in the healthcare industry, I realised I could really make a difference by bringing the skill set of hospitality leadership into a healthcare setting. This was not just for my father’s memory but for every other family who walked through the doors. 

The ‘concierge approach’ involves the delivery of top-tier levels of service, operations, coaching, and engagement, both with clients (patients) and employees. I believe this gives the healthcare industry something historically it has lacked: a soul. 

The hospitality industry in the UAE is second to none, and so taking the operational leadership skill set learned there into the highest level of healthcare makes sense and is something I can truly stand behind.

How do you recruit the right people?

The healthcare industry has a large rate of burnout. For us, it is not just about finding the right skillset, but finding the healthcare professionals who really sponsor a supportive environment and welcome our guests in a truly care-first hospitality approach.

And once we find the right people, we need to ensure that we, as an organisation, and myself as a leader, invest in them and nurture and care for them. This is part of my own leadership growth journey.

My leadership style is about fostering a collaborative environment, where employees are empowered, rather than micro-managed, and where open communication and trust take centre stage.

We have a huge variety of nationalities represented here, so to be able to listen, educate, mentor, support, grow, and allow team members to know they have been heard, is vital – not just for their own wellbeing, but for the health of the company.

The UAE workforce is largely made up of a diverse mix of expats, the majority of whom are living and working away from family and friends.

In hospitality here, you have to be Mum, Dad, Uncle, Sister and Aunt, to be everything to everyone – and to be able to bring that level of employee care into healthcare is quite special.

What is the ethos of Aviv Clinics?

As a responsible member of the UAE community, we are committed to contributing to the government's vision of building a happy and prosperous society. This includes making advanced medical treatments available to more children in the country.

With the vision that has been set by our political leaders – and the support from DP World – Aviv Clinics is not only pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation.

By upholding the clinic’s reputation as a world-class healthcare organisation, we can attract more international and regional clients and patients to Dubai for advanced medical treatments.

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