KUWAIT is planning to build five new hospitals at a cost of KD900 million ($3.2 billion), the tenders for which will be floated by August, said a senior official of the Ministry of Public Works.

The Al Jahraa, Maternity, Al Razi , Ibn Sina, and Children’s hospitals will be fully-equipped independent facilities and not extensions of existing hospitals, according to Husam Al Tahous, the assistant undersecretary for construction projects.

Three consultancy contracts have been drawn up for the projects and papers and documents for bidding have been prepared, Al Tahous was quoted as saying by the Kuwait Times.

A ministry study on hospital demand and capacity showed Jahra district needed a hospital with a capacity of 1,000 beds. However, as a planned hospital will have only 800 beds, Al Tahous said another project with larger capacity might be examined.

The study indicated that the capacity of a proposed hospital to be built in the southern region should be increased to 2,000 beds, and therefore another plot would be chosen to build an annex to meet the demand.

The study also showed that the capital city needed 800 more beds while a proposed annexe to Al Amiri Hospital would have only 600 beds. Thus, the ministry has planned a new 250-bed hospital in the same location to meet the shortfall in demand.

The 600-bed maternity hospital, meanwhile, will be located in Al Sabah district opposite an existing hospital while the 500-bed Children’s Hospital will be situated west of an existing children’s hospital.

Al Razi and Ibn Sina hospitals will have a capacity for 500 beds each.

Al Tahous said the strategic aim behind this hospitals project was to secure up to 22 beds per 10,000 citizens by 2030.

Kuwait’s current capacity in public hospitals stands at 18 beds per 10,000 persons. However, the study calls for increasing it to 25 beds per 10,000 based on the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO). “This can be achieved with the help of the new hospitals,” he said.

The ministry also plans to build a 500-bed hospital for the Interior Ministry in Al Sabah district on a 90,000 sq m plot of land. The hospital’s design is nearly ready and work is expected to start in the summer of 2013.