New public hospital to alleviate pressure on Muscat's

Oman's Health Ministry plans to set up a major general hospital in Muscat to help ease pressure on the capital city's much-burdened public healthcare infrastructure. The new Muscat General Hospital is proposed to be established at Airport Heights, not far from Muscat International Airport. Its catchment will be the geographical area of the capital region, home to roughly a fifth of the country's population. The city already hosts three of the country's biggest tertiary care hospitals - Al Nahda, Khoula, and Royal - as well as the medical services arm of Sultan Qaboos University, the nation's premier higher learning institution. But capacity at these hospitals has lagged demand, with the result that care-seekers often have to cope with lengthy lines and wait several weeks for appointments with specialists for non-emergency related surgeries and treatments. According to officials, the new general hospital will be positioned largely as a secondary healthcare services institution which will alleviate pressure on the tertiary hospitals. A timeframe for the establishment of the facility has not been disclosed yet, but the 8th Five Year Plan (2011-2015) makes fiscal provisions for two major hospitals - one in Muscat and the other in Salalah. The government has earmarked around 330 million Omani riyals for the construction of new hospitals around the country during the 8th Plan.