(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Shifa al Jazeera Group, a healthcare group which runs a network of hospitals and medical centres across the GCC region, has announced 13 projects in Oman's healthcare sector with a total investment of RO100mn. The projects are expected to be completed within the next five years.In the first phase, the group will set up two new hospitals in Ruwi and Al Khuwayr and a medical centre in Barka, which are expected to start functioning by March 2014.Announcing the group's plans to enter the Oman market at a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Muscat on Friday, K T Mohammed Rabeeh Rabeehullah, chairman of Shifa al Jazeera, said that the group has plans to set up another ten major healthcare projects in the sultanate.He said, ''The entry into Oman is part of a larger plan to introduce a comprehensive healthcare concept across the sultanate in phases. The total investment for all the13 projects will be around RO100mn and they are expected to be within the next five years."The two hospitals in Ruwi and Al Khuwayr, which will have capacity of 150 beds and 80 beds, respectively, and a medical centre in Barka, are expected to start operations by March 2014.''He said that as part of its second phase expansion the group has plans to set up three hospitals in Salalah, Sohar and Al Khoud and medical centres in Duqm, Suwaiq, Khaboura, Buraimi, Ibri and Falaj al Kabail.''We have been providing quality healthcare services to people at lower costs compared with other private hospitals in our operating markets. We will follow the same formula in Oman,'' added Rabeehullah.The contract for the first phase construction has been awarded to Alisco.The chairman also announced the winners of the 11th Shifa al Jazeera socio-economic-charity-media awards during the press conference. Awards will be distributed in a gala event on February 1, 2013, in Muscat.Shifa's Oman expansion comes after the group, expanded its operations in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE.
