Kuwait’s Health Ministry has invited companies to submit bids for the main construction package for three hospitals as part of its hospital renovation and expansion programme.

Prequalified companies have until 7 June to submit bids for the three separate contracts to build a 600-bed Cancer Centre and expand the existing Al-Amiri and Al-Razi hospitals.

The ministry has prequalified 17 groups to tender for the construction projects.

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.

The proposed extension to the Al-Amiri hospital will consist of 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, physiotherapy department, laboratories, radiology department and a pharmacy. The extension will increase the capacity of the existing hospital by 360 beds.

The expansion to the Al-Razi hospital will add an additional 192 beds to the capacity of the existing hospital.

In October 2010, the ministry awarded a KD1.8m ($6.2m) contract to the US/local team of Hill International and System Development & Project Management (SDPM) to provide project and construction management services for the expansion of the nine hospitals.

The Health Ministry’s hospital expansion programme is part of Kuwait’s plans to complete $8bn of hospital construction projects by 2016 at it seeks to meet the healthcare demands of its growing population.

As the Health Ministry prepares to tender the construction package for its renovation programme, the country’s Public Works Ministry has approved plans to build eight new hospitals in the next five years.

The ministry is planning to build four hospitals at the Al-Sabah medical area in Shuwaikh, which is located just west of Kuwait City. The Al-Razi hospital, the Physical Medicine hospital and the Ibn Sina hospital will each have 500 beds, while the planned maternity hospital will have 600 beds.

As part of its plans to improve the provision of public health services in Kuwait, the ministry is also planning to build an 800-bed hospital at Al-Jahra, a 600-bed unit at Al-Amiri and a 1,000-bed hospital at Al-Adan (MEED 10:12:10).