Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) will retender the contract for the new hospital it is planning in Al-Ain and has invited contractors to prequalify for the contract.

Seha tendered the contract last year and had selected the joint venture of the local Al-Shafar General Contracting and the local National Projects Construction (NPC) with Japan’s Shimizu Corporation for the estimated AED2.6bn ($708m) contract (MEED 3:12:10).

The contract involves building a 688-bed hospital. It will cover 358,000 square metres, with underground parking for 1,500 cars. The design has been prepared by a joint venture of Switzerland’s ICME Healthcare, Germany’s Faust Consult Architects & Engineers and Germany’s Obermeyer Engineering Consulting.

Seha has invited contractors that prequalified last year for its Al-Ain and Mafraq hospital tenders to prequalify for the new tender this year.

The estimated $800m contract for Mafraq hospital was awarded to the joint venture of the local/Australian Al-Habtoor Leighton Group and South Africa’s Murray & Roberts Contractors (Middle East) earlier this year.

Mafraq hospital will have 690 beds. It will cover an area of 245,000 sq m and will have underground parking for 1,300 vehicles. US-based Burt Hill is the design consultant.

US-based Allen & Shariff Corporation is the project manager for both schemes.

Seha is also developing the Tawam hospital project in Al-Ain. Abu Dhabi-government controlled investment vehicle Mubadala Development Company was previously handling the project. It cancelled tenders for the project in early February 2010 (MEED 5:2:10).