Investment, Transparency and Accountability Deliver Robust Healthcare Industry in Saudi Arabia

Investment, Transparency and Accountability Deliver Robust Healthcare Industry in Saudi Arabia

The healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia provides a perfect window into the broad-based growth happening across the Kingdom. Not only will the sector required more than 19,000 additional hospital beds by 2030, its medical equipment market, already valued at US$2 billion, is set to grow 2% a year, [1]?while total healthcare spending in the Kingdom is rising to US$77.1 billion by 2027[2]?.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s broader non-oil economy is forecast to grow more than 5% a year between 2025 and 2027[WP3]?, driven in part by Saudi Vision 2030 spending.

From the ongoing transition of the Ministry of Health into an industry regulator to creating the Health Holding Company and its 20 clusters providing care to specific regions to upcoming privatizations that will see the private sector share of healthcare delivery rise from 40% to 65% [WP4]?-- the healthcare sector in the Kingdom is undergoing profound transformation.

What’s more, says Mohammad El Khoury, General Manager, GE HealthCare for the Middle East. patients are benefitting as progress is made, “sometimes at the speed of light,” on the three pillars of Saudi Vision 2030’s healthcare goals: better care, better health and better education and training.

“Better care is about accessibility, like opening primary healthcare centers and drive-through clinics, and ensuring a better balance of technical capabilities across regions. Better health is about improving care and treatment, in part by developing care pathways for specific diseases and seeing them implemented kingdom-wide, alongside digital care platforms to support quality of care.”

El Khoury enhanced education benefits patients, as better trained technicians and clinicians ensure powerful diagnostic and treatment equipment can be used most effectively to support care.

Institutional infrastructure

What’s driving so much optimism and excitement about the industry, he said, is not just the government’s financial commitment to healthcare. It’s equally the institutional infrastructure, such as the procurement and bidding process established by the Saudi National Unified Procurement Company (NUPCO) and its online portal. Other examples include extensive healthcare digitization for patients, care givers and for ministry and cluster operators.

“There now is full transparency and full information on all bids and all awards. And in addition to the cluster system itself, there is distributed decision-making and accountability. When I’m talking with customers, they are as accountable for their decisions as I am.” And thanks to the digital healthcare infrastructure, they also come to these discussions equipped with data about patient demographics, disease prevalence, and utilization of facilities, equipment and services, he said.

Another reform is the embrace of new operating and funding models, including public-private partnerships. For example, GE HealthCare is installing and servicing all medical imaging equipment as part of the Kingdom’s first-ever PPP contract. During the 10-year agreement covering seven government hospitals, Altakassusi Alliance Medical will provide advanced and regularly updated radiology and nuclear medicine services, with the goal of reducing wait times and improving the quality and efficiency of these services.

The 20 Healthcare Clusters also continue to upgrade their ability to increase access and improve outcomes, El Khoury said. For example, just this year, GE HealthCare has installed a range of imaging equipment, from MRI to PET/CT machines to regional clusters, including several PET/CT scanners in the different regions.

“That means elderly patients or people with cancer living in the Jeddah area no longer need to travel to Riyadh. This is not only about the cost of travel but also, for these patients who often are ill or fatigued, long trips can be particularly exhausting. Now, it is only a short drive, and then they are home,” El Khoury explained.

Private care push

The private sector – from the largest health systems to smaller groups – also is seeing tremendous expansion, and an investment in advanced equipment and training. “They are purchasing big-ticket items too, including CT, MRI and cath-lab machines to deliver enhanced care to a growing number of patients,” he said.

One of the clearest indications of what’s happening in the Kingdom, El Khoury said, is Global Health Exhibition 2024 in Riyadh. “This event is growing like nowhere else. It has doubled the number of exhibitors and tripled the exhibition space. We at GE HealthCare are doubling the size of our booth.

“We are exhibiting for the first time in the region one of our latest technology, which speak to Vision 2030 healthcare priorities. We’re also introducing new products, such as our latest cath-lab solutions.”

To meet the growing healthcare needs in the country, El Khoury said GE HealthCare continues to expand its footprint in the Kingdom, adding highly qualified several to its 250-member staff and building out new project management and service teams. For example, GE HealthCare has installed new equipment in more than 20 different hospitals in the public and private sector so far this year. Looking ahead, by the end of the second quarter of 2025, he expects a high single digit of his company’s PET/CT scanners will be installed in hospitals across the Kingdom.

“Saudi Arabia today is one of the most exciting healthcare environments in the world,” El Khoury said. “Not only because it is growing quickly but because its growing in sophistication and focused on delivering against Saudi Vision 2030, which ultimately means a happier and healthier population that is ready and able to thrive in the new world that this vision is creating.”

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?[WP1]Source: Global Health website: https://www.globalhealthsaudi.com/en/exhibit/why-exhibit.html

?[WP2]Source: Global Health website: Report: https://img06.en25.com/Web/Informa15/%7Be6e4ddd4-3b08-45e5-91be-86fe3de53b4b%7D_ARTICLE_GHE_V2.pdf

?[WP3]Source: https://www.arabnews.com/node/2573766/business-economy

?[WP4]Source: Global Health website report: https://img06.en25.com/Web/Informa15/%7Be6e4ddd4-3b08-45e5-91be-86fe3de53b4b%7D_ARTICLE_GHE_V2.pdf