Kuwait’s Ministry of Health has postponed until 26 November the deadline for bids for a contract worth an estimated $1bn for the expansion of Farwaniya hospital.

The project involves building a new 955-bed annex that will offer 30 emergency rooms and 27 operating rooms. The project will also include the construction of laboratories, a pharmacy and car park for 1,500 vehicles.

A total of 26 firms have been prequalified to bid on the project, which is part of a plan to expand nine hospitals in Kuwait to improve the provision of public health services in the country. The expansions will add 5,000 beds to the current capacity of the state’s hospitals.

Several contracts have been awarded by the ministry and a few tenders are still being reviewed under the programme.

The first tender to be awarded was for the construction of a 240-bed expansion to the Al-Razi hospital. The local Alghanim International signed a $112m deal to perform the work in November 2012.

In May 2013, a joint venture led by Kuwait’s Associated Construction Company signed a $343m contract with the ministry to expand the Al-Amiri hospital, which will add 460 beds to the existing facility.

The following month, a joint venture of Metallurgical Corporation of China and the local Al-Tawbad General Trading and Contracting Company submitted a low bid of $184m for a deal to expand the Infectious Diseases Hospital in the Al-Asimah governorate.

In August, the local Burhan International Construction Company submitted the lowest bid of about $1.3bn for the contract to build a 1,157-bed expansion to the Jahra hospital.

The Health Ministry is currently seeking bids for a deal worth an estimated $700m involving the construction of a 637-bed annex to the Al-Adan hospital. The closing date for submitting the tender is 10 November.

The ministry has extended the tender closing date to 12 November for the $385m deal to build an annex to the Al-Sabah hospital. The package includes the construction of a 600-bed medical tower. A total of 24 firms have been prequalified to bid on the scheme.

A tender issued in 2012 for the expansion of the Kuwait Cancer Control Centre has yet to be awarded, while a plan to expand the Ibn Sina hospital as part of the programme is still in the design phase.