RIYADH – King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has ordered the allocation of 4,509,300 square meters of land for the establishment and expansion of a number of health facilities, announced Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah here Friday. The King gave the go-ahead for the expropriation of 300,000 square meters of land adjacent to King Faisal Hospital in Taif for building a children's hospital and completing the remaining parts of a medical city. A 400,000-square-meter plot of land was allocated near Taif University to construct a mental health hospital, a general hospital and a center for the treatment of drug addiction. The King's directives also include the expropriation of land bordering the North Jeddah Hospital. The land, which measures 116,000 square meters, will be used for building a 400-bed maternity and children's hospital. A 200-bed medical tower will be built on 9600 square meters of land around Jeddah Ophthalmology Hospital, its parking lots and the properties adjacent to the proposed project. The directives also include the expansion of King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah with the expropriation of 80,500 square meters of land on the northern, southern and western sides of the hospital. King Abdullah pays special attention to health projects. Last month, the King inaugurated 420 health projects and laid the foundation stones for 127 healthcare projects all over the Kingdom at a total cost of more than SR12 billion. The projects included a 236-bed Sharq Arafat Hospital and 10 primary healthcare centers as well as 28 projects in different parts of the Kingdom including King Faisal Hospital in Taif, a 500-bed Maternity and Children's Hospital in Makkah, a 500-bed Maternity and Children's Hospital in Dammam, a 200-bed Southern Riyadh Hospital, a 200-bed Al-Quway'iah Hospital in Riyadh, a 100-bed Al-Badayeh Hospital in Al-Qassim and a 100-bed Medical Tower inside Jazan General Hospital. Last month, the King also inaugurated an open-heart surgery center at King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, 154 operating rooms and four diabetes centers in different regions, and 381 primary healthcare centers all over the Kingdom. During the inauguration ceremony, Dr. Rabeah said that more than 29 hospitals and health institutes and 91 health centers were part of the projects inaugurated by the King. He said the ministry was also planning to build 122 hospitals and medical towers and 305 primary healthcare centers, and to double the number of beds in all its hospitals over the next seven years in order to meet the needs of citizens. – SG/SPA
