Manama: Qatar is planning to build the world’s largest hospital by 2020, two years ahead of the World Cup the Gulf country is set to host for the first time in the region’s history.
The blueprint, budget and land for the hospital to be named after the country’s Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani are ready, local Arabic daily Al Sharq has reported, citing health sector sources. Work on the massive project is expected to be launched soon, it added.
The hospital will also be the largest in the world in terms of accommodating patients and the range of treatment specialities, the sources said.
“The hospital, expected to be the most advanced in the world, will be an architectural marvel and will be part of a plan by Qatar to dazzle the international community when it hosts the World Cup in 2022, just like it did in 2006 when it organised the Asian games,” the sources said.
World Cup-related projects have allocated a significant section for the health sector and included the presence of more than 8,000 medics during the global event, the daily said.
Medics will be hired through hospitals or public health centres that will add sports medicine to their range of services.
They will also be recruited by private clinics that offer sports medicine.
Qatar in December 2010 beat off rival bids from the United States, Australia, South Korea and Japan to become the first Arab country to host the World Cup.
