Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health has announced that it is seeking local and international healthcare service providers to take part in its first public-private partnership (PPP) project.
Firms have until July 1 to submit expressions of interest for the PPP project, which targets radiology and medical imaging services covering several hospitals in the greater Riyadh region.
The ministry said this marks a major step forward for PPP projects in the Gulf kingdom that is continuing to encourage private sector participation in a bid to meet rising demand for quality healthcare.
The PPP project is expected to improve healthcare access to over a million people in the Riyadh region, as well as improve waiting times and reliability of scans.
According to a report by Colliers last year, Saudi Arabia needs to recruit at least 3,700 additional doctors by 2020.
The Gulf kingdom also requires up to an extra 18,400 hospital beds, based on pessimistic population growth statistics of 1.02 percent from the World Bank.
Its Saudi Healthcare Overview 2018 report also said the country needs to invest up to $6.2 billion in healthcare real estate and a further $2.2 billion on medical fit-outs by the end of the decade.
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