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In compliance with the directives given by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to support the budget of the Ministry of Health (MOH) with SR 16 billion allocated to establish a number of medical cities throughout the Kingdom's regions, His Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah has signed, on Wednesday 19/1/1433H the contracts of the studies, architectural designs, supervision and management of King Abdullah Medical City, in Makkah, and King Khalid Medical City, in the Eastern Province. The two projects are to be implemented by two world's pioneering companies in this field; as King Abdullah Medical City Project, in its new location, was awarded to RTKL, whereas ICOM Inc. was awarded the project of King Khalid Medical City, in its new location.
On this occasion, Dr. Al-Rabeeah extended his loftiest and most sincere thanks and gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, May Allâh protect them, for their unremitting support for health services. He also treasured this gracious gesture which embodies and manifests the Leadership's keen interest in preserving health and well-being of the people of Kingdom of Humanity, and providing the best healthcare services for them.
Dr. Al-Rabeeah pointed out that medical cities are spread out around the Kingdom, encompassing King Fahad Medical City, serving the Central Province, King Abdullah Medical City, serving the Western Province, King Faisal Medical City, serving the Southern Province, Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Medical City, serving the Northern Province, and King Khalid Medical City, serving the Eastern Province. These contracts, Al-Rabeeah affirmed, are just the first step towards the establishment of grand medical projects throughout the Kingdom's provinces and regions, and more steps are yet to come. He said, “It has been a pleasure for us to sign these two pivotal contracts, which should be seen as a manifestation of the vision and directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, May Allâh protect him, in pursuit of serving the Kingdom and its people.”
“These new cities will provide excellent health care services in their respective regions, including services of the 4th level, in accordance with the population density, and the professional standards of quality,” Dr. Al-Rabeeah added. “It is projected that, by the end of work on these projects, around 7.000 beds will be added. Also, these cities will include specialized hospitals and centers for oncology, neurology and cardiology, radiotherapy, and organ transplantation, in addition to many other rare specialties, thus facilitating the provision health services to citizens at the places where they reside, and relieving the fatigue of travel.”
Dr. Al-Rabeeah further explained that it is due to the financial and administrative independence of medical cities, that the Ministry of Health spared no effort to provide the proper administrative environment needed to organize their work, and make optimal use of their potentials and capabilities, under the supervision of a unified board of directors, headed by the His Excellency the Minister of Health, in participation with the related ministries, so that it would be the competent authority drifting work towards the desired objective. It should be noted, in this respect, that the board has already made outstanding accomplishments, as part of the National Project for Integrated and Comprehensive Health Care.
Concluding his statement, Dr. Al-Rabeeah prayed for Allâh, exalted and glorified be He, to protect the Kingdom and its Leadership and people, and to perpetuate its security and stability.
The Executive General Manager of King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Dammam, Dr. Khalid Al-Shaibani, said the project of King Khalid Medical City in Dammam will be built on an area of 700,000 square meters with a capacity of 1,500 beds. This new medical city will include specialized hospital, eye specialized, hospital for cardiology and neuroscience, research center, center for organ transplant and other rare specialties such as a separate hospital for rehabilitation, 200 outpatients clinics and separate buildings for its staff. The new city is completely independent from King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam, where the hospital staff will move to the city of King Khalid during the next five years, in order to serve the eastern region and its citizens, he added.
On his part, Dr. Hassan Ba-Khamis, Executive General Manager of King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC) said that the project of King Abdullah Medical City in the Western Province will be established on an area of about 2.000.000 m2. The new building will be located on the Makkah–Jeddah Road, he added, pointing out that the building will provide an opportunity to offer high-quality medical services and support medical and non-medical recruitment with the best non-Muslim medical competencies, since they cannot work at the old building in the Holy City (Makkah).
The new location, he emphasized, will be an excellent platform for future expansions of the Medical City, and this location will have 1,500 beds with separate departments for specialist treatment. Each department will have at least 100 beds.
Dr. Bakhamis explained that the medical city includes the following: cardiac center with a capacity of 150 beds, a center for specialized surgery and organ transplantation with a capacity of 100 beds, a center for cancer treatment and surgical oncology with a capacity of 200 beds, neuroscience center with a capacity of 100 beds, obstetrics and gynecology center with a capacity of 200 beds, day care center with a capacity of 100 beds, medical rehabilitation centre with a capacity of 150 beds, radiation therapy unit, nuclear medicine unit, and auxiliary units.
He added the medical city also includes the general hospital with a capacity of 500 beds. This building is characterized by a flexible horizontal movement, in order to effectively link all the centers and outpatient clinics with one another.
The hospital contains over 200 outpatient clinics and two laboratories, out of which one laboratory is for general tests and the other is for research work, in addition to a large number of physicians' offices and researchers to facilitate access to outpatient clinics, surgery rooms, and patient rooms. It will also have an auditorium for 2,000 people where training programs and medical conferences can be conducted.
It is worth mentioning that the total value of today's two contracts is SR 430 million, covering the structural designs, supervision and management. The project of King Abdullah Medical City was awarded to the Saudi Diyar Consultants, with the participation of RTKL, whereas ICOM Inc. was awarded the project of King Khalid Medical City.