RIYADH, 15 January — The Council of Ministers yesterday decided to transform the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center into a public establishment. However, the move will not affect the hospital’s employees, as they will continue in their jobs in the new organization.
The decision was taken on the recommendation of a ministerial committee chaired by Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Fahd, state minister and head of the Court of the Presidency for Cabinet Affairs.
Speaking to the Saudi Press Agency, Information Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsy said the hospital’s financial and other rights within and outside the Kingdom would go to the new establishment, which will be responsible for the hospital’s commitments.
The hospital will continue to follow all the rules and regulations that will not contradict the new setup. A committee, comprising representatives from the Finance Ministry and the Bureau of General Auditing, will also assess the hospital’s assets.
“All employees of the hospital and the research center will shift to the new organization without any change in their positions and the new establishment will take care of their rights,” the minister said.
More than 22,000 patients are admitted in the hospital annually with an average stay of eight days. The hospital undertakes 1,100 open-heart surgeries, 3,600 cardiac catheterizations, 50 kidney transplants and 100 marrow transpants.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, who presided over the Cabinet meeting, briefed the ministers on his talks with Bahrain’s Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa ibn Salman Al-Khalifa on Sunday. He underscored the strong Saudi-Bahraini relations.
The Cabinet meeting also licensed the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) to exploit raw salt from the salt quarries, 35 km south of Jubail in the Eastern Province. The license covers an area of 2,824 square kilometers in the region.
The Cabinet appointed Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abdullatif, Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Qawaiz and Dr. Muhammad Ehsan Bouhaleeka as members of the Saudi Telecom Authority’s board of directors from the private sector.
The meeting authorized the health minister to hold talks with the Indonesian side to reach an agreement for cooperation between the health ministries of the two countries. It approved a new model of the contract for operation, maintenance and cleaning, presented by the Finance and National Economy Ministry.
The Cabinet finally endorsed the appointment of Hamid Al-Motairy as a member of the higher committee to settle disputes and Muhammad Al-Naji as a reserve member of the same committee.
