THE first smart hospital in the region is set to be developed on a sprawling 150,000-sq-m area at Dubai Silicon Oasis in Dubai.

The Fakeeh Academic Medical Centre (FAMC) will include a 300-bed smart hospital and medical university.

 It will be built by Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH), one of Saudi Arabia’s premier healthcare institutions, at a cost of Dh1 billion ($272 million) in two phases.

The first phase of FAMC is set for completion in 2017 and will include the delivery of a 150-bed smart hospital at the integrated free zone park, while the second phase will be completed in 2019.

DSFH will boost the capacity of the hospital with an additional 150 beds in the second phase. This phase will also add an academic component to the project through the opening of the research-focused university.

“Dubai plans to attract 500,000 medical tourists a year and boost its economy by up to Dh2.6 billion ($708 million) in the next five years. By hosting FAMC, we reiterate our complete support to this project throughout the implementation of the prestigious medical facility,” said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman of Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA).

The centre will feature IT-enabled patient rooms fitted out with health-monitoring technology. The 300-bed facility will offer robotics surgery and feature an automated medication dispensing system. It will also include five centres of excellence that specialise in diabetes and endocrinology, muscles, bones and joints, emergency medicine, pulmonary medicine and cardiology, it added.

The technology will ensure the hospital conforms to the highest standards of sanitation and significantly reduce possibilities of medical errors, said DSOA.

“The second phase of the project will also include a best-in-class university established in partnership with one of the largest universities in the world,” said Sheikh Ahmed.