The local/Australian Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) is the low bidder for the contract to build Sheikh Khalifa Medical City on Abu Dhabi Island, with a price of about AED3.9bn ($1.1bn).

The second-lowest bidder, with a price of about AED4.9bn, is a consortium of Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), Beijing-based China State Construction & Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and Italy’s Techint Engineering & Construction.

The other two bidders are Bam of the Netherlands with a price of about AED4.9bn, and a joint venture of South Korea’s Samsung C&T and the local Al-Faraa General Contracting Company with an offer of about AED5.1bn.

A contract award is expected during the second quarter of this year.

The planned hospital will cover a total area of 278,709 square metres (sq m) and will combine general hospital facilities with a trauma centre and women’s and paediatric centres, with a total of 838 beds. The central area of the proposed medical campus will house restaurants and retail and education spaces. Construction work on the scheme is scheduled to start in 2013.

The project client is Abu Dhabi General Services Company (Musanada) which took over the responsibility of Abu Dhabi government construction projects last year. The delivery of the hospital was previously handled by Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha), which will operate the facility once it has been built.

In December last year, Musanada awarded a $1.2bn contract to a consortium of Arabtec and Spain’s Constructora San Jose to build the New Al-Ain hospital.

Covering an area of 358,000 sq m, the 719-bed hospital will provide facilities for general medicine and surgery, a dedicated children’s ward, maternity, ICU, medical rehabilitation units, and VIP and royal suites.

It will also include 104 advanced specialised clinics, 17 radiology rooms for X-ray, CT Scan and MRI services, as well as 22 specialised rooms for endoscopy procedures and diagnosis.

The hospital will house a central morgue that will serve the needs of the Eastern Region, a mosque, a centre for logistics services and a 60MW power station, in addition to an underground parking lot accommodating up to 1,500 cars.