The King Abdullah Center For Tumor and Liver Diseases will be set up at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, (KFSHRC), Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah announced here on Saturday.
“We are thankful to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for having magnanimously agreed to call the new facility after his name,” Al-Rabeeah said, adding that the king has instructed to carry out the project quickly.
The facility is part of an integrated strategy to treat tumors and liver diseases. It is estimated to cost SR906 million and will have 300 beds to serve citizens and residents in the Kingdom.
“We have already started making plans for the center, which will be equipped with most advanced medical facilities,” the minister said. “It will benefit both Saudis and expatriates,” he added.
The contract for the construction of the proposed center was signed with a local company Saturday in the presence of the health minister. The center consists of 21 floors, and will be built on an estimated area of about 32,000 square meters.
The contracted company would commence work immediately, the minister said. He indicated that the new facility would greatly reduce the number of people going abroad for such treatment and it would cut time and cost of treatment.
“We hope to fix state-of-the-art medical equipment that are found in North America and Europe to the new center,” the minister said. The KFSH’s current tumor center receives nearly 3,000 cancer patients annually, a number that is expected to increase to 14,000 by 2020.
Al-Rabeeah said the new facility would help patients with tumor and liver problems to be treated by qualified professionals with modern medical equipment.
“We have our own local resources who are efficient to handle such patients,” he stressed. He also pointed out that a good number of Saudi youths are getting overseas higher education under King Abdullah Scholarship Program, whereby the Kingdom’s medical cadre could be supplemented to meet the growing demand for local human resources. He pointed out that health services in specialized services to treat tumor and liver diseases are rare.
“The King Abdullah Center will be a focal point for research, training and excellence in clinical services,” Dr. Qassim Al-Qasabi, chief executive officer of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, said .
King Faisal Specialist Hospital KFSH&RC is an 894-bed multifacility, multientity tertiary care hospital and one of the leading health care institutions in the Kingdom. Its mission is to provide medical services of highly specialized nature and promote medical research and education programs, including postgraduate education training, as well as contribute to the prevention of diseases.
Arab News