$1 Billion Medical City planned in Salalah

Oman Observer - MUSCAT - October 01, 2011

A Saudi based business house plans to establish a Medical City in Salalah with an investment estimated at $1 billion. The project will be promoted by the Apex Medical Group (AMG) whose founding president Dr Abdulla Aljoaib, President of Aljoaib Holding, said it would house the region’s first multispecialty organ transplant and rehabilitation centre of excellence.
Regional media quoted Dr Aljoaib as stating that the project will be integrated with a 530-bed multispecialty hospital and a state of the art diagnostic centre, healthcare resort and healthcare educational complex. The massive development, which Dr Aljoaib said, has the backing of the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Health, will be established on an 800,000 sq metre plot overlooking the Arabian Sea.
According to AMG, Medical City Oman — as the project is dubbed — has the potential to have a major impact on the range and quality of medical and surgical services provided in the Middle East & North Africa. “We firmly believe that the Medical City Project will bring significant benefits not only to the healthcare sector in the region, but also to the economic and social development of GCC countries.

The GCC is currently facing a gap in secondary, tertiary and specialised care and in rehabilitation services. There are various factors that influence the need for a multispecialty hospital and transplant centre in the GCC. Furthermore, there has been a tremendous increase in life style diseases which require specialised high quality organ transplant services within the region,” Dr Aljoaib stated.
The Medical City Oman promises to be a world-class medical education, research and development facility with internationally recognised strategic partnerships will facilitate academic and service excellence in the Mena region. In addition, The Medical City will also have a Healthcare and Education Complex, Healthcare Resort with Upscale Hotel, Wellness & CAM Center, and several other support services establishments.
With a strong commitment to exceptional healthcare, the project’s AMG Endowment programme will also offer free medical and educational community support services to poor and needy families who would not otherwise be able to afford such services and treatment.
Dr Aljoaib also mentioned that the Academic Medical & Research Centre of this project would be managed and operated by a most renowned North American Hospital Group. Similarly the AMG will collaborate with the world’s best Transplant & Rehabilitation centre operators and managers for the operation of their world-class organ transplant and rehabilitation facility.
Dammam-headquartered Aljoaib Holding Aljoaib has business interests spanning: Oil and Gas, Healthcare, Project Management, Fabrication, Water Treatment and Environmental Services, Electro-Mechanical Components, Agriculture and Irrigation Systems, as well as QC, Geotechnical and Engineering Consultancy Services. The company also has branch and regional offices throughout Saudi Arabia, as well as in Dubai and USA.

Note from Me: (Organ transplant centre?! Creepy, since I just finished reading the novel "Never Let me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro')