MINA, 28 December 2006 — Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is also the head of the Supreme Committee for Haj, opened the new SR185-million Mina Medical Emergency Tower on Tuesday. This new hospital replaces the Mina General Hospital, which was serving pilgrims for decades and was lately demolished to make room for the Jamrat expansion project now under way.
“This huge tower replaces the old hospital and offers all the services offered by it and more. I has very modern facilities, with state-of-the-art equipment and by highly trained staff at Haj health care services,” said Khaled Al-Mirghalani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Health.
Speaking to Arab News he said that the tower, built on a 47,000 square meter area, has a capacity of 300 beds, not counting the 50-bed emergency ward. Around 1,600 medical, administrative and support staff will serve these beds.
“Furthermore, the new hospital includes 45 clinics and six operating rooms, and is capable of receiving around 500 cases at one time,” said Mirghalani.
He said that this new hospital, as the old one, is at a strategic location, near to the Jamrat area that witnesses huge crowds during the three days of stoning. This makes it ideal to handle any emergencies that might arise during those days.
“The hospital is located near the King Khaled Tunnel which makes it very practical to transfer desperate cases to the Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in Makkah,” said Mirghalani. “The hospital was built in a record time of 11 months, in time for Haj, as a gift by the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to the pilgrims this year.”
