LONDON: Jordan will set up a field hospital focused specifically on obstetrics and neonatal care to Gaza’s Khan Younis region by mid-November, the director general of the kingdom’s Royal Medical Services said on Thursday.
The deployment will occur in four phases, Dr. Yousef Zureikat said, culminating in the hospital being fully operational and ready to receive patients next month.
The facility will be the first of its kind in the world to focus specifically on maternal and newborn healthcare in a field setting, Jordan News Agency reported.
The project, which comes under a royal directive from King Abdullah II, will be operated with oversight from the Jordan Armed Forces and also in partnership with Pious Projects, a US-based humanitarian organization.
During a press conference at King Hussein Medical City, Zureikat said that the new hospital will be integrated into the existing Jordanian field hospital “Khan Younis 4.”
This facility already provides advanced medical services, including complex surgeries and prosthetic limb fittings, as part of RMS’s “Restoring Hope” initiative, aimed at providing prosthetics to amputees in Gaza.
Zureikat said that the new field hospital will be equipped with four operating rooms — one for cesarean sections, another for natural births — as well as five resuscitation beds, 30 postpartum recovery beds, and 10 neonatal incubators. Solar energy will support the facility to ensure continuous and reliable operations.
Zureikat said the hospital will be staffed by a team of 82 professionals, including 55 from the RMS. While patient numbers are unpredictable, he confirmed that medical teams were fully prepared to manage a range of cases and provide essential care to mothers and newborns.
Siting of the hospital is being coordinated with the Gaza Municipality and other local authorities, with rehabilitation work already in progress.
