Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz

Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz launched a host of health care projects in the presence of Health Minister of Health Mohammed Al-Hayazie at the governorate on Tuesday.

The projects include 42 primary health care centers, two hospitals and a number of IT systems that aim to provide access to health services at different remote locations in the region, at a total cost of SR301 million.

The 42 centers and the IT programs cost SR201 million, while each of the two hospitals cost SR50 million. As a test, Prince Turki made a live phone call with a physician at a health care center at the remote town of Al-Sulayel to inquire about a patient.

The call used the Ihalati system, one of the launched IT projects, which aims to facilitate patient referrals and communication in remote areas, in the presence of the minister.

One of the two hospitals was a 50-bed hospital in Al-Muzahmiyah, a town of 40,000 population at a 40 km distance west of the capital on the Riyadh-Taif Road.

The other was a 50-bed hospital in Al-Artawiyah, a town of 50,000 population 270 km away north of the capital.

Al-Hayazie expressed his deep gratitude for Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for his generous support for these projects so that better health care services can be offered to citizens at rural and remote locations in the Kingdom.

Also, the minister offered his thanks to Prince Turki for allocating some of his time to launch these projects despite his tight busy schedule, lauding the efforts and support of the prince to the health care sector in the region.

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