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India’s NIMS to develop Kulhudhuffushi hospital to tertiary level

Fathmath Shaahunaz
19 March 2017, MVT 14:32
The regional hospital in Haa Dhaal Atoll Kulhudhuffushi island. PHOTO/KULHUDHUFFUSHI ONLINE
Fathmath Shaahunaz
19 March 2017, MVT 14:32

The Maldives government has decided to hand over management of the regional hospital in Haa Dhaal atoll Kulhudhuffushi island to NIMS Hospital of India.

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom had declared in this year’s Presidential Address that his administration would award the development of Kulhudhuffushi Regional Hospital to a multispecialty tertiary hospital with 150 beds to a foreign firm.

Regarding the development, Minister of Health Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim told Mihaaru last week that authorities have already drawn up the draft of the agreement with NIMS Hospital. He said they are now awaiting the counsel of Attorney General Mohamed Anil, concerning technical amendments, after his review of the draft.

Kulhudhuffushi Regional Hospital currently features 50 beds. Its management is to be awarded to NIMS for a period of 30 years.

According to Minister Nazim, the finished tertiary hospital in Kulhudhuffushi will offer services such as MRI and CT scanning, and major operations including joint replacement and heart surgeries. The services are expected to begin a year after the contract is signed.

Nazim added that patients will be shifted from the main hospitals in capital Male to Kulhudhuffushi after the tertiary hospital is developed. Highlighting the flights operated from Hanimaadhoo International Airport in the same atoll to Trivandrum of India, he added that doctors can directly fly to the north of the Maldives from India.

The minister went on to say that the government currently has no plans of awarding any other hospitals to foreign firms. However, he noted that awarding management of the 100-bed tertiary hospital to be developed in Addu atoll to a foreign company is an option.

Minister Nazim also announced that the state is looking to award certain departments of hospitals and health centres across the atolls to foreign firms, similar to some of the major departments of state run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in capital Male.

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