The additional beds are being made available through the construction of 17 new hospitals by the year 2005, providing as many as 1800 new beds, in addition to adding extensions to existing facilities. A new Dh 100 million hospital was opened early in 2000 in Kalba in Sharjah. Other projects include the 612-bed, Dh 417 million Khalifa Medical Centre, with a specialised accident and emergency service, which opened in Abu Dhabi in March 2000. A 138-bed general hospital is also planned for Madinat Zayed, in addition to a 236-bed, Dh 57 million hospital in Ajman, and another specialty hospital in Abu Dhabi costing Dh 53 million. The Dh 430 million extension of Abu Dhabi's Corniche Paediatric Hospital will add 448 beds. Al Ain will have a new 360-bed Tawam Maternity Hospital.
There is also a plan to establish 25 new primary health centres (PHCs) in the UAE at a cost of Dh 100 million. Ten new PHCs opened recently in the Northern Emirates, each serving the needs of 30,000 people. The Ministry currently has a network of 115 PHCs throughout the country.
Over 4000 medical doctors work in the UAE, an average of one doctor for every 600 people.
Specialised treatment centres, such as open-heart surgery and transplant units, as well as kidney dialysis units, have been established throughout the country. Al Mafraq Hospital open heart unit performed some 298 open-heart operations in 1998, 106 of which were on children. Al Mafraq Hospital is also the site of a telemedicine centre linking the hospital to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and enabling the exchange of digitised data and high-resolution, diagnostic video images. The aim is to improve patient care and cut the cost of foreign travel for patients. Other telemedicine programmes are also being launched in the UAE.