Jordan’s Kingdom Health Project unveiled on Monday the designs for medical university and hospital components of the $400 million Kingdom Health Project in Amman.

The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project is being implemented under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model by the Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund (SJIF), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia with the state-owned Jordan Investment Fund, the UK-based University College London Medical School (UCLMS) as the academic partner and the Los Angeles-based UCLA Health as the clinical partner of the project, a press statement issued by the Kingdom Health project said.

The Sidara Collaborative, comprising Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners), Perkins & Will, and Currie and Brown, were awarded design, engineering and construction supervision contracts respectively for the project.

The foundation stone for the project, located near Ghamadan, south of Jordanian capital Amman, was laid in October last year.

The project, which will have a total built area of more than 110,000 square metres, comprises the Kingdom University of Health Sciences with a total capacity for 600 students and an annual intake of 100 students and the 330-bed Kingdom University Hospital, which will also have 72 outpatient clinics and a dedicated children’s hospital.

It also includes five centres of medical excellence focused on cardiology, oncology, neurology, gastroenterology, and orthopedics, and four research centres in genetics and precision medicine, stem cells, bioinformatics, and health systems.

Jeffrey Brooks, Design Director, Sidara Collaborative said the design draws inspiration from local Jordanian stone and the vibrant colors of wildflowers historically used for medicine. He said the campus is designed to be flexible, adaptable, and future-proof while its modular design improves quality while reducing costs and construction time.

Kingdom Health Project CEO Mahmoud Sarhan said the university will be operational by the end of 2026, while the hospital will commence operations in early 2027. He said the project, which will integrate diagnosis, intervention, and treatment with scientific research, development, and clinical trials within one campus, will create over 5,000 job opportunities.

In May 2024, Sarhan told The Emirates Times news website in an interview that the contractor has completed the excavation phase and started the construction process.

Hill International is providing construction management services for the project.

The press statement said the project’s master plan includes a framework for future growth with up to 50 percent expansion of the hospital and the addition of four different medical colleges to the university to meet future healthcare needs in the region.

The ownership of the project and all its elements will be transferred to the Jordan Investment Fund after the investment period.

In a statement issued in 2022, UCLMS said a key aim of the project is to attract global expertise on healthcare education to Jordan, helping to improve its healthcare sector, strengthen its model of accountable care, provide high-quality healthcare services and boost Jordan’s offer for medical tourism.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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