The Thai government has approved a budget of 5.116 billion baht for the construction of an international healthcare facility on Phuket, dare we say ‘hub’. The Andaman International Health Centre is part of a plan to boost medical tourism and promote Phuket and Thailand as a regional medical hub.
Anek Laothamatas, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation says it’s hoped the medical facility will generate an extra 62 billion baht in tourism revenue each year, from around 400,000 foreign and Thai patients.
According to a Nation Thailand report, the Andaman International Health Centre will consist of Songklanagarind Hospital Phuket, a 300-bed facility, an international medical centre, and a college that will produce specialist doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and other healthcare personnel.
Anek expects the college to produce up to 110 healthcare specialists each year. On graduation, they can either work at the Andaman International Health Centre or at other healthcare facilities in the region, where they can train up to 1,000 local healthcare professionals annually.
Meanwhile, Dr Sirirurg Songsivilai, the ministry’s permanent secretary, says Songklanagarind Hospital Phuket will treat at least 300,000 outpatients every year and have the capacity to accept 100,000 patients transferred from other hospitals in the Andaman region, who may be in need of specialised treatment.
“The international medical centre will offer premium services for both Thai and foreign medical tourists seeking high-quality care of international standard in diagnostics, treatment, rehabilitation, and health promotion.
The centre will also feature the most advanced dentistry centre in the Southern region and is expected to generate income of over 1.6 billion baht per year, with about 300 million baht from dentistry services.”
Construction of the facility is expected to begin next year and be complete within 5 years.
SOURCE: Nation Thailand
