Kuwait’s Health Ministry has received bids for the contract to upgrade and expand the existing Al-Razi hospital.

The ministry received bids from eight contractors on 24 August.

The local Al-Sager General Trading & Contracting submitted the low bid of KD26.7m ($97.7m), which was 13.9 per cent lower than the KD31m bid submitted by the second-lowest bidder, the local Alghanim International.

The Al-Razi hospital expansion project will add an additional 192 beds to the capacity of the existing facility. The project is part of the Health Ministry’s plans to expand and upgrade nine existing hospitals, as its population is expected to grow from the current level of 3.4 million to 5.4 million over the next two decades.

The ministry is also currently tendering projects to expand the existing Al-Amiri hospital and build a cancer centre. Contractors have until 11 September to submit bids for the two construction projects.

The proposed extension to the Al-Amiri hospital will comprise a tower with up to 10 storeys, a basement level and a four-storey podium. The development will cover a total area of about 90,000 square metres and will contain 65 speciality clinics, a physiotherapy department, laboratories, a radiology department and a pharmacy. The extension will increase the capacity of the existing hospital by 360 beds.

The 600-bed cancer centre will be located in the Sabah area and its main function will be for diagnosis to complement an existing hospital for cancer treatment (MEED 15:8:11).