Modular prefabricated designs can reduce the cost and time taken to build hospitals by 50 percent, according to an article on the Gulf News website.

The savings are largely due to new technology, automation and economies of scale. This benefit will eventually filter down as reduced healthcare cost to patients, the article said.

Two large hospitals are currently being built in Riyadh and Bahrain according to the conventional construction methods, but will have automation and prefabrication introduced at some stage, the article said.

“Going by conservative methods of construction, the cost per bed today comes to about one million dirhams ($272,290). This process will not only deliver sleek and modern structures but also reduce the cost by half. This is the future of health care and will make health care affordable for all which is our aim and we intend to extend the same to education and get into building cost-effective modular schools which is our next goal,” Faizal Kottikollon, founder-chairman, KEF Holdings. KEF is part of a partnership that will be building a modular components factory in India.

Read the article.