RIYADH — King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has issued directives to set up two medical cities, one in Riyadh and the other in Jeddah. Affiliated to the Ministry of Interior, the medical cities would receive cases referred to them from different medical facilities and the network of Ministry of Interior hospitals, Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, Minister of Interior, said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency Sunday. Each medical city will have an accommodation capacity of 1668 beds. The main section of each city will have a general hospital and centers for the treatment of injuries and accident cases as well as those relating to burns, tumor and blood diseases, and units for computerized and heart surgeries. Each city will also have specialist hospitals for mental health, treatment of addiction, and a 580-bed gynecology and obstetrics hospital, information and computer center, residential buildings, support services buildings, main mosque and smaller mosques scattered within the city and a car park building. Construction of the two medical cities will take three years. These medical cities are to be constructed within an integrated medical services plan. Two specialist medical projects would provide the two cities with additional dedicated coverage. Prince Muhammad said the establishment of these medical cities reflect the care of King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman for security officers and personnel of the Ministry of Interior. It also reflects their keenness to provide advanced medical services to the citizens of this nation. On behalf of the Ministry of Interior personnel, Prince Muhammad thanked King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman for their care for police officers and the ministry's personnel. – SG
