Mane', Minister of Health, has issued directives to open 31 hospitals during the current year. Besides, 12 hospitals will either be shifted from their premises or will be rebuilt. The capacity of the new hospitals will be 4,270 beds and they will come up in different regions, Ahmed Al-Beez, Supervisor General of Projects and Engineering Affairs at the Ministry of Health, said. Al-Beez said the 43 hospitals include eight in Riyadh Region, five in each of Madina and Asir regions, four in Jizan Region, and one hospital each in Eastern Province and Al-Ahsa, Hail, Tabuk, Al-Qassim, Najran regions, one hospital each in Bisha, Al-Jouf, Al-Gurayyat, Hafr Al-Batin, Al-Baha, Makkah, Taif and Al-Qunfudha governorates and the Northern Frontier Region. Meanwhile, Dr. Khalid Marghalani, spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, said the ministry is in need for qualified people to fill 5,000 vacancies in the new hospitals.
