Second Deputy Prime Minister Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz speaks to reporters after laying the foundation stone for the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah on Tuesday night as Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah looks on. — SPA

Samar Yahya

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — On behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Second Deputy Prime Minister Prince Muqrin Bin Abdul Aziz on Tuesday laid the corner stone for the new King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) to be located in north Jeddah.



At a special ceremony held at Jeddah Hilton, Prince Muqrin expressed his happiness in kick-starting a project that King Abdullah wanted the community to benefit from greatly. He stressed the attention paid by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for Saudi citizens and his keenness to go for the best in the diverse fields of services. He confirmed that King Abdullah puts the needs of the citizens on top of his list of priorities.

For his part, Minister of Health Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah expressed his happiness over Prince Muqrin attending the ceremony.



“King Abdullah has issued directives to establish the project on an area of more than 2 million sq meters in the vicinity of King Abdulaziz International Airport. The hospital will be built at an approximate cost of SR1.77 billion and work will be completed within three years,” Al-Rabeeah said.



“The new hospital will use the latest in terms of medical technology,” the minister said.



Al-Rabeeah also expressed his appreciation for the great support extended by King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman, deputy prime minister and minister of defense, to the Ministry of Health.



Senior health officials and medical experts attended the event. In the initial stage, the new hospital will have 650 beds, including 150 beds in the intensive care unit (ICU), 30 large operation theaters, 16 procedure rooms, 90 beds for outpatient surgery and 50 dialysis units, among other facilities.