Oman has announced plans to build a new 300-bed specialised hospital in capital Muscat at an investment of RO100 million ($259.4 million), said a report.

The 48,000-sq-m project is being set up in collaboration with Italy’s second largest private health facility, Gemelli Hospitals, and is likely to be completed in 2020, reported Muscat Daily.

The initial design of the hospital was prepared by Elixir United Investment Company and Italian engineering consultancy Sering International, it stated.

The project aims to contribute to the new approach of the Ministry of Health, which encourages the participation of the private sector in healthcare at a more comprehensive and broader level within the service package and facilities, said the report.

On completion, the new hospital will help boost the sultanate's health services sector by providing the latest global technologies and highly skilled human resources in paediatrics, orthopaedics and obstetrics, it added.