Prince Saud Bin Naif, emir of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, laid the foundation stone of the Batterjee Medical City in Dammam, recently. It is one of the largest private healthcare projects in the region.

Sobhi Batterjee, chairman of the Middle East Healthcare Company (Meahco), owner and operator of Saudi German Hospitals, and Bait Al Batterjee Medical Co Ltd, said support from the governor and other senior government officials has further reinforced the group’s commitment to health care and that it has encouraged them to serve the community while creating benchmarks for health care facilities.

Batterjee explained that the project will be built on an area of 90,000-sq m and will be implemented in four stages at a total estimated cost of SR4 billion ($1.07 billion).

The first stage will include the establishment of a 150-bed private hospital owned by MEAHCO, with state-of-the-art medical equipment covering all specialties in line with the best global medical practices. It will also include a staff housing unit within the complex. This first phase of the project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019 with operations commencing in the second quarter of 2019.

The second phase will include the establishment of the Batterjee Medical College, while the third phase will see the construction of specialty centres. The fourth phase will comprise tower buildings, hotels and shopping centers of international standards.

Batterjee said the building area of the medical city will be 550,000-sq m. When fully functional, it will provide 8,000 jobs for Saudis in various fields as well as high-quality specialised services to citizens and residents in the eastern region, and patients from Bahrain and Kuwait.

Batterjee said Meahco has a successful track record of more than 30 years. He said that the private sector is committed to support and contribute toward enforcing the kingdom’s  Vision 2030 under the leadership of King Salman.