Rita McGrath, UAE Managing Director of Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Center (CMRC)
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ” – Mark Twain
This thought-provoking quote inspired Rita McGrath to valiantly take her chances and begin an incredible journey in healthcare. McGrath is the UAE Managing Director of Cambridge Medical and Rehabilitation Center (CMRC) and an exemplary in the space who shaped herself throughout the years for a rewarding future in this sector. Her vast academic and professional history shows how focused she was to achieve her goal of making a difference in this landscape. “Like everybody else in this field, I wanted to change the world!” says McGrath.
McGrath completed her under graduate work at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Integrated Science. She also has an MBA and a graduate certificate in health care administration and is currently working on her Ph.D. in International Business at Southern New Hampshire University. Interestingly, McGrath’s career history demonstrates that she has been in the healthcare sector throughout her career where she has worked in both the public and private sectors. However, her management career started with a large New York City hospital right after she got her MBA. From this point, McGrath began to build up quite an admirable career path. She went on to work with the Ontario (Canada) government and then was appointed to the Provisional Treasury Board and finished as the Assistant Director of Policy to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.
Thereafter, McGrath started her career in the GCC through the Supreme Council of Health in Qatar as the Director of Planning and Assessment. Later, she moved to the UAE in 2010, to work with the government entity SEHA (Abu Dhabi Health Services, PJSC). Eventually, she transitioned to the private sector as the Chief Operating Officer of a large acute care hospital in Dubai. Presently, she has been serving her duties in CMRC as their UAE Managing Director who has executive oversight over a broad portfolio of both clinical services and a range of corporate support functions. It is also under her jurisdiction to ensure the safe provision of high-quality patient-focused services and meet the quality, patient safety, and commercial KPIs.
Balancing Life and Career
Entrepreneurship demands certain traits: traits that facilitate an individual to excel in every aspect of their life while working on their career objectives. McGrath rose to success by harnessing skills such as time management and creativity and by setting a clear vision for her life. Supported by her husband in this journey, McGrath has been able to balance her career and family life without many hiccups. Amidst all her responsibilities she finds time for herself to be creative and develop her skills. She never took the path of least resistance and dedicated all her efforts to her entrepreneurial voyage.
“Success to me is doing what we love, and I get to do that for everybody here at CMRC. I am passionate about my work, and I get immense joy knowing that I’ve made a difference in people’s lives,” says McGrath. Through CMRC, she has been able to help people facing challenging times and assist them in improving the quality of their lives.
Future Goals
McGrath looks forward to an exciting future for CMRC. Going forward, she and her team will be working towards expansions in other emirates in the UAE and offer additional innovative services that can elevate clinical outcomes, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. Intending to become the preeminent provider of long-term care and post-acute rehabilitation services throughout the GCC, CMRC will be expanding its brand and clinical services in post-acute care (PAC) into Dubai and the Northern Emirates as well as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman.
In the coming years, CMRC will expand its clinical scope of services into behavioral medicine/mental health, sports medicine, and orthopedics. With such exciting future goals, McGrath also assures to maintain CMRC’s world-class accreditations with Joint Commission International (JCI), Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and Saudi Central Board for the Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions (CBAHI). Above all, she moves forward with CMRC while keeping up with the ultimate purpose of providing exceptional quality of care for the patients and families for which they have the privilege to serve.