Contract awarded to build new Dubai hospital offering surgery performed by robots

Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) has won a Dh468 million contract to build the hospital which is being touted as the region’s first smart hospital.

Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG) has won a Dh468 million contract to build a hospital in Dubai that will offer robotic surgery.

The builder was awarded phase one of the Fakeeh Academic Medical Centre (FAMC) in Dubai, which is being touted as the region’s first smart hospital, complete with automatic medication dispensing.

The hospital in Dubai Silicon Oasis will be made up of five centres that specialise in diabetes and endocrinology, muscles, bones and joints, emergency medicine and pulmonary medicine and cardiology.

HLG’s scope includes construction of the smart hospital building, as well as the installation of medical equipment and furniture. It includes all architectural, civil engineering, mechanical, engineering and plumbing, and commissioning works.

The project is set to start on site immediately, with a goal of completion by October 2017.

Fakeeh Academic Medical Centre is being developed by the company which runs Jeddah’s private Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital.

Once the first phase is complete, a second is set to add a further 150 beds and a medical university. It is expected to complete in 2019.

HLG said that the work would be performed to the standards of a Leed Silver certificate, which the hospital hopes to receive when it is built.

“This is an important award for the group and an opportunity for HLG to deliver this distinctive and high-profile project to a significant client,” said Jose Lopez-Monis, the chief executive of HLG.

He added that he was pleased with the rapport established with Fakeeh Academic Medical Centre, which he expects to continue into the future.

The hospital is being built on a 150,000 square metre site at Silicon Oasis, next to the Gems Wellington Academy.

The project was launched in January this year, when the Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum unveiled a plaque at the site.

He said that Dubai plans to attract 500,000 medical tourists a year, which would boost its economy by up to Dh2.6 billion within the next five years.

“I am confident FAMC will serve as a hub for research and achieve medical milestones across a wide spectrum of health care issues,” he said.

Earlier this year, Mazen Fakeeh, the chairman of Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, said that his company planned to conduct an IPO and sell up to 30 per cent of its shares over the next three years to fund its expansion plans.

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