Designs for a multi-million-dinar medical city in Bahrain’s Southern Governorate are due to be completed in December, it was announced yesterday (March 18).

The King Abdullah Medical City project, paid for through a $ 1-billion Saudi grant from the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, will be built on a 1-million-sq-m plot of land donated by His Majesty King Hamad, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

It will be run by the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) and designed by SaudConsult, following an agreement signed last December.

The development will provide 264 beds, four centres of excellence and research, a college of medicine and student dormitories, as well as accommodation for doctors.

"The medical city is one of the most important medical and educational projects in the GCC that will add to the region's medical achievements," said AGU president Dr Khalid bin Abdulrahman Al Ohali.

"The city, like King Hamad University Hospital, is part of a public hospitals system that the government aims to establish in co-operation with healthcare institutions such as Supreme Council of Health and National Health Regulatory Authority.

"Its capacity and advanced medical capabilities will serve residents of the Southern Governorate in line with the advanced urban development plans, which envisage providing a hospital in each governorate, similar to the health centres scheme in the kingdom.

"What makes this city special is the combination of educational and training services it will provide to GCC students studying at the AGU, apart from treatment and research services."

Work on the building will begin as soon as the designs are completed, it was learnt. - TradeArabia News Service