MUSCAT: A foundation stone has been laid for the new Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah by the Ministry of Health.

According to His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Al Saidi, Minister of Health, the construction work of the OMR 129 million hospital will be completed in four years.

To be built over 94,400 sqm, the main building consists of a ground floor and six floors. The hospital will have 700 beds distributed in admission wards in various specialties for men and women, 25 labor rooms, two operation rooms, and an integrated accident and emergency unit.

The hospital also includes an isolation ward, and a radiology department, that has three x-ray machines, two CT machines, an MRI machine, and other ultrasound devices.

Designed for the purpose of meeting future demands, the hospital contains a pharmacy, medical laboratories, a daycare unit, a room for minor operations, physiotherapy and chemotherapy units.