The Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital has set a target to launch a medical institute in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district by 2017.
"We intend to produce more doctors and nurses," said Winit Phuapradit, dean of the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University.
"We also aim to improve healthcare services in Samut Prakan and provinces on the east coast where many factories are based with inadequate advanced hospitals."
The medical institute, to be named the Chakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute (CNMI), will sit on 319 rai of land with a 400-bed-capacity hospital, dorms, and medical research and study facility.
The hospital will provide healthcare services ranging from primary to advanced levels, Dr Winit said. Work has begun on the complex though fund-raising is still underway.
A total of 12 billion baht, of which 5 billion will be raised through the Ramathibodi Foundation, is being invested in construction, medical equipment and supplies.
The CNMI will be the third Ramathibodi campus for medical and nursing students at bachelor degree level.
The other two campuses are in Nakhon Pathom's Salaya district and on Rama VI Road in Bangkok. The former is for teaching first-year students and the latter has limited space.
"Most patients at Ramathibodi Hospital [in Bangkok] have complex and chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke or diabetes. This is not suitable for teaching students at bachelor level as they need to learn primary medicine," said Dr Winit.
Ramathibodi Hospital has more than 9,000 students and health personnel. About 80% of the students and 1,600 health personnel will be allocated to the CNMI. The CNMI will increase Ramathibodi's student capacity, though figures are not yet known.
More than 8,000 factories and industrial sites are located in Samut Prakan. The institute would draw more occupational and environmental health experts to the area, to enhance healthcare services for workers, he said.
Few workers there have access to advanced care as most of Samut Prakan's hospitals are run by the private sector, said Dr Winit.
Many need to travel to Bangkok to get public healthcare services. "Our network will help fill the gap between the private sector and the state," he said.