JEDDAH, 9 January 2003 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd has donated SR250 million to the cash-strapped King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center here, according to Sultan Bahabri, director general of the hospital.
The donation helped the hospital tide over a severe financial crisis.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Bahabri said the generous gesture by the king would help the hospital carry on its mission of providing specialized health care to the people of the Western Province.
He said the hospital will soon start receiving patients referred from other hospitals. The Ministry of Health had instructed its hospitals to stop referring patients to KFSH.
Bahabri also disclosed a plan to reduce the hospital’s service charges. The new plan will be announced next week. "The hospital will continue to provide treatment to people suffering from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart diseases," he added.
He said the hospital will focus on its self-financing program, improving the quality of service and management. He referred to the king’s instructions to ease procedures of admitting patients.
As many as 16,000 patients suffering from chronic diseases receive treatment at the hospital, which has conducted 800 open-heart surgeries and several organ transplants over the years.
