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KUWAIT: The highly anticipated Jaber Hospital will be allocated for Kuwaiti citizens once it opens later this year, Health Minister Dr Ali Al-Obaidi confirmed. The top-notch facility will be run by an international administration "to guarantee a more ideal way to manage this international hospital," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the minister reiterated that a tender has been awarded to a company to build three hospitals accessed only by expatriates covered by medical insurance. He said that the hospitals will finish 'soon' without giving a date. Works to build the Jaber Hospital started in 2009 as Kuwait looked to expand its free-of-charge medical services provided to Kuwaiti citizens at its overcrowded public hospitals that are accessed by both Kuwaiti and expatriate patients.
Jaber Hospital is considered the largest hospital in the Middle East with a total of 1,168 beds. The hospital also has three helipads, a parking lot with a 5,000 car capacity in addition to 50 ambulances. It also has a protective shelter. The hospital covers an area of 220 meters squared with a construction area reaching 725 meters squared. The minister said the hospital is considered an integrated health center.
It has five towers of patients rooms at a height of nine floors and each tower can be expanded in the future. He added that the hospital has eight entrances, 150 elevators, a catastrophe center which is considered the first of its kind in Kuwait in addition to a medical mall that is one kilometer long, containing various shops and resting areas for patients and visitors.
Last year, Kuwait established a shareholding company through the public-private-partnership (PPP) system, to service expatriates health needs. The company intends to build three 700-bed hospitals that provide integrated medical services to foreigners in Kuwait. The company also sells health insurance policies inside and outside Kuwait. Expatriate health insurance would rise to KD 150 per person from the KD 50 per person per year.
© Kuwait Times 2016
