The Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Policy Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, yesterday greenlighted a 2-billion-baht investment to upgrade Pluak Daeng hospital 2 in Rayong.
Pluak Daeng hospital 2 will become the first hospital in the country in which the government will establish a joint venture with the private sector, with the bidding for its construction scheduled to be called early next month. Pluak Daeng hospital 2 is in Rayong province, one of the three provinces that comprise the government's flagship EEC development project. The hospital has only 60 beds at present.
According to Deputy Health Minister Satit Pitutecha, the joint investment will be formed under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, under which the private sector will be tasked with designing, investing in and constructing the hospital and then transferring ownership to the government immediately once the construction has been completed.
The upgraded hospital would be used as a prototype for future public-private joint investments in hospital projects. The partnership scheme would help address the limited budget of the government sector, while people who will use the hospital's services would still pay fees on a par with those provided by state hospitals, said Mr Satit.
It is expected that the upgraded second hospital in Pluak Daeng district would become operational over the next three years.
"This joint investment project is estimated to require spending of around 2.07 billion baht, with the private sector investing around 1.8 billion baht and the government investing around 270 million baht," he said.
"Bidding for the construction will be held early next year which will still be handled by the incumbent administration. Only the Thai private sector is allowed to participate in this investment project."
According to Mr Satit, once operational, the upgraded hospital will have around 120-200 beds and will be qualified to handle patients under the Social Security Fund.
In a related development, Pojanee Artarotpinyo, a special advisor on policy and planning for the EEC Office, said the committee yesterday also acknowledged an update on the new smart city development which covers a 14,000-rai plot of land in Bang Lamung district, Chon Buri, which is 15 kilometres from U-tapao airport.
The EEC Policy Committee, in July this year greenlighted the new smart city development which is the fifth flagship infrastructure project within the EEC.
The new smart city is expected to attract 1.34 trillion baht in investment over a 10-year period, creating 200,000 new jobs.
The project is set to include a financial centre, regional headquarters and centres of government agencies, digital industry, logistics services, research centres and residential buildings for workers. The new smart city is expected to be home to 300,000 people.