bed hospital was estimated at SR1,092,000,000, the minister disclosed, adding that the neighboring Pediatrics and Obstetrics Hospital accommodates 400 beds and has cost SR284 million. Alkhafji General Hospital, which was earlier inaugurated by the crown prince, has the capacity of 100 beds, Almane'a said. He said Dammam King Fahd Specialist Hospital is phase II of the medical belt plan which was first launched in Riyadh. He added that this year's budget surplus gave room for providing the best medical services in the Kingdom. Accordingly, Crown Prince Abdullah ordered upgrading the bed capacity of eleven hospitals currently underway to 500 beds each, bringing to 1250 the total capacity of those hospitals, the minister explained. According to Almane'a, there are 202 existing hospitals in the Kingdom with a total capacity of 29231 beds and 72 hospitals, including the medical belt's, currently under construction with a total capacity of 8830 beds, bringing to 227 the number of the Kingdom's hospitals with a total capacity of 32461 beds. --More 2007 Local Time 1707 GMT
