OrBorJor to revamp Phaya Thai Hospital
PHUKET CITY: The long abandoned Phyathai Hospital building is due a major makeover with the confirmation by press release that the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor) last month completed its 327-million-baht purchase of the site from Thai Asset Management Corporation.
After surveying the hospital building and its facilities, located on 14 rai of land, it was announced that OrBorJor will spend about one year making improvements. Medical services are expected to begin in the second half of 2008.
The private hospital will accommodate about 200 beds and offer services similar to those of other private hospitals, but at reduced prices. The site of the hospital, on Sri Sena Rd in Phuket City, has sat unused for the past seven years.
The move comes in response to Phuket’s ever-increasing population, which officially stands at 324,891 people. However, that figure is thought to be only about half the number of Thais living and working in the province, according to a recent estimate by the Ministry of Interior.
Government hospitals in Phuket are struggling to cope with the number of people requiring treatment, in large part because the island’s tourist-oriented private hospitals are too expensive for many islanders; OrBorJor President Anchalee Vanich Tephabutra hopes that Phyathai Hospital will bridge the gap in the market by offering locals affordable, private health care.
In developing the new hospital as a private facility, the OrBorJor has given up its plan to administer the hospital as a public organization similar to Banphaeo Hospital in Samut Sakhon.
