City Hall is stepping up efforts to complete construction of a hospital for the elderly in Bangkok's seashore district of Bang Khunthian within the next three years, deputy Bangkok governor Chakkapan Piewngam said.
The Bang Khunthian Geriatric Hospital is intended to provide medical services to people in western Bangkok, covering Bang Khunthian and nearby districts of Thung Kru, Bang Bon, Chom Thong, Rat Burana as well as those in neighbouring provinces of Samut Prakan and Samut Sakhon, to lessen the inconvenience of travelling far to other hospitals.
The hospital project, worth 2.9 billion baht, was initiated by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's Medical Service Department.
Construction of the first phase was completed and opened for service in December 2012.
The first phase houses an outpatient department building offering general treatment, accident and emergency, and dental services.
The hospital, on Bang Khunthian-Chai Talay Road in Bang Khunthian, will provide medical services to more than 1,000 outpatients daily, Mr Chakkapan said.
The complex will comprise six buildings connected by covered walkways, with 300 beds.
It will be divided into two main sections: general treatment wards and a geriatric medical centre which will provide comprehensive specialised services that focus solely on the treatment of the elderly.
Two landowners, Uraisri Kanuangsookkasem and Pornthip Wongsiridej, donated a combined 34 rai of land in 2009 to be used for the construction of the hospital.