Health Minister Abdullah Al-Rabeeah has approved a sum of SR2 billion to build a comprehensive medical center in eastern Jeddah with a 1,000-bed capacity. He also approved SR150 million to build a specialized center for emergency injuries with a capacity of 200 beds.

Sami Badawood, Jeddah’s Health Affairs director, said the minister approved the allocation of SR125 million to build five specialized medical centers, in addition to SR45 million to build a dental center made up of 25 clinics in Al-Laith.

Badawood said this support to gigantic health projects would help achieve a qualitative leap in developing health and therapeutic services in the region.

He said the project is expected to reap excellent results by providing a larger number of hospital beds and reducing the time between medical appointments at outpatient clinics.

This will also contribute to employing larger numbers of young Saudis in medical, technical and administrative jobs, he said.

He said specialized hospitals and injury centers would have a positive effect on treating patients, which will lead to self-sufficiency in the treatment of people in the region without having to transfer patients to specialized centers in Riyadh or abroad.