The Deputy Minister of Health for Supply and Engineering Affairs, Dr. Salah al-Mazrou, opened today the Second Saudi Forum for Hospitals Planning and Designing, organized by the Health Buildings Architects Division, affiliated to the Saudi Umran Society, under the title: “Constants and Variables in the Hospitals Planning”. The forum is taking place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Riyadh, and will last for three days. It is attended by the Deputy Minister of Health for Engineering Affairs, Eng. Ahmed bin Ali al-Baiz.
Eng. al-Baiz lauded the impressive development which the Saudi health sector is undergoing, thanks to Allah in the first place, and to the gracious support and patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, may Allah protect him. In this context, al-Baiz cited, as a testimony for such generosity, the directives given by King Abdullah to allocate SR 108 billion, as part of this year's budget, for developing and expanding health and social services in the Kingdom, with an increase of over 8%, compared to the last year's budget.
Al-Baiz said, “It is beyond doubt that the orders and directions of our cherished king, since his ascent to power on Jumada II 26, 1426H, have contributed to developing the performance of the health sector in the Kingdom. This resulted in increasing the Kingdom's specialist hospitals, establishing intensive care (IC) centers, in addition to five integrated medical cities, with a total bed capacity exceeding 7.000 referential beds. These cities are: King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, to serve the central region, King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah, to serve the western region, King Faisal Medical City, to serve the southern region, Prince Mohamed bin Abdulaziz Medical City, to serve the northern region, and King Khaled Medical City, to serve the eastern region.”
He pointed out that the national ten-year health plan, which will come to an end by 2020, with its slogan: “Patient First”, comes in line with the Kingdom's health strategy. Both of them take improving the health services provided to citizens as their main focus, from primary health care, to specialized therapeutic services. That is to be added to the medical and technical skills of the medical staff, and the adoption of the international standards and specifications for planning and designing hospitals. Besides, both strategies concentrate on the scientific research and studies meant to serve the health sector and contribute to its development.
Dr. Ahmed al-Baiz underscored the importance of doing research in the domain of hospitals designing and planning, and its role in bringing about a paradigm shift in designing hospitals, in a manner that satisfies the demands of the beneficiaries of the health services, meanwhile taking into consideration the specificity of the Saudi society, with its traditions stemming from, and originating in Islam.
According to Dr. al-Baiz, the Ministry of Health (MOH) shows keen interest in hospitals designing by adopting the international standards, which would maintain the rights and privacy of the health service beneficiaries, especially hospitalized and IC patients, in addition to preparing the rehabilitation centers, in and endeavor to satisfy their needs and requirements.
In the meantime, he wished that the forum will come up with the desired results that would be enhance the proficiency of those working in the domain of hospitals planning and designing, by achieving knowledge exchange with experiences of the advanced countries in this area, thus allowing everyone to share in the promotion of the Kingdom's health services.
It followed that the Chairman of the Saudi Umran Society, Dr. Abdulaziz bin Nasser al-Dossari, delivered a speech, in which he made clear that the Second Saudi Forum for Hospitals Planning and Designing is the fruit of the laborious endeavors of the Health Buildings Architects Division, affiliated to the society, which organizes forum for the second consecutive year, after the 2013 forum came up with great results, such as identifying the Saudi building code. The conference corresponds with the momentous development which the Kingdom is undergoing in constructing hospitals and medical cities. It is for this reason that we need to benefit from the international experiences in the area of modern architecture, meanwhile keeping an eye on the nature and atmosphere of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to come up, at the end of the day, with models that would satisfy the needs and demands of the Saudi society.