A new medical center will open in As-Safa Tower, close to the Grand Mosque, when the Umrah pilgrimage peaks in Ramadan. The center will open Aug. 21, said Dr. Muhammad Jastinya, Deputy Director General of the Directorate of Health Affairs in Makkah. It will have a 20-bed intensive care unit (ICU), a 20-bed emergency ward with a women's section, and an ICU for cardiovascular patients. As concerns grow over the swine flu pandemic that has claimed the lives of nine people so far in Saudi Arabia, the Directorate is making every effort to provide easily accessible and efficient medical services for the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims expected to visit the Haram during Ramadan. Jastinya said four dispensaries have opened to compensate for the closure of Ajiyad General Hospital. These are located at the King Abdul Aziz and Umrah gates and on the first floor of Ajiyad gate where there are two dispensaries. All the medical facilities have specialist doctors and paramedical staff, in addition to operation theaters. Additionally, a fleet of ambulances will be ready to take critically ill patients to Noor Specialist Hospital or to King Abdul Aziz Hospital. There are 75 dispensaries in all around Makkah
