Preliminary work to replace Villimale’ Hospital with a modern 100-bed tertiary facility officially has commenced.
This follows the arrival of a Chinese project management team tasked with surveying the site and designing the new hospital, which is being fully funded by the Chinese government through a grant agreement formalised in June.
The project management consultant team from China Northeast Architectural Design and Research Institute Co. Ltd. is now on the ground in Villimale’. Its mandate is to conduct necessary surveys and develop the detailed design for the advanced hospital. According to the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Infrastructure, the team will collaborate with key local stakeholders until mid-next month to finalise plans.
Plans detail a significant upgrade for healthcare on the densely populated suburban island. The new China-funded facility will feature two dedicated buildings and include specialised beds and departments for outpatient care, inpatient services, emergency treatment, diagnostics, intensive care (ICU), and hemodialysis – services currently unavailable locally.
The existing Villimale’ facility, serving the island’s estimated 15,000 residents, is critically under-resourced. With only three patient rooms and a mere five emergency beds, it lacks the capacity to meet community needs. Consequently, residents frequently rely on traveling to Male’ for treatment at facilities like Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) or Dharumavantha Hospital.
The Male' City Group of Hospitals (MCGH) is preparing to demolish the current hospital building to make way for the modern replacement.