In this Law, the following terms shall have the meanings assigned thereto, unless the context requires otherwise:

• - Private Health Institutions: Health institutions owned by the private sector and equipped for treatment, diagnosis, nursing, medical tests, or rehabilitation, or for the accommodation of convalescents. They shall include the following:

• 1. Hospitals: Facilities where patients are received, examined, treated, and hospitalized.

• 2. General Polyclinics: Facilities where patients are received, examined, and treated. They shall have at least three different medical specialties, one of which a primary specialty (e.g., surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, family medicine).

• 3. Specialized Polyclinics: Polyclinics including one medical specialty, or more, and its subspecialties.

• 4. Clinics: Facilities where patients are received, examined, and treated.

• 5. Radiology Centers: Facilities for diagnostic medical imaging or radiotherapy.

• 6. Medical Laboratories: Facilities for conducting laboratory tests.

•  7. Same-Day Surgery Centers: Health institutions licensed to hospitalize patients for conducting medical procedures; such as minor or intermediate surgeries, provided that the patient is discharged on the same day, in accordance with the Implementing Regulations.

• 8. Health Service Support Centers: Facilities that provide health or technical services supplementary to treatment and rehabilitation. They shall include the following:

  • a) Physiotherapy centers.

  • b) Optical stores.

  • c) Prosthetic stores.

  • d) Support centers approved as health services by the Minister of Health.

• 9. Ambulance Transport Service Centers: Units in charge of transporting and providing first-aid services for patients or injured persons before hospitalization, in accordance with the specifications and controls set forth by the Saudi Red Crescent Society.

• - Ministry: Ministry of Health.

• - Minister: Minister of Health.

1- It is required that the owner of the clinic be a Saudi doctor, specialized in the nature of the clinic's work, supervising it, and fully dedicated to it.

2- There must be a supervisor in every medical complex, medical laboratory, radiology center, or day surgery center, and the following conditions must be met:

• A- The supervisor must be a doctor or a professional specialized in the nature of the work of the complex, laboratory, or center, whether they are the owner or one of the partners or otherwise.

• B- They must be fully dedicated to this purpose.

• C- They must be Saudi; if this condition is not met, the supervisor may be of another nationality, according to what is determined by the implementing regulation of this law.

3- In all cases, every private health institution must have a technical supervisor specialized in its nature of work and fully dedicated to it.

4- It is required that the medical director in hospitals be a qualified Saudi doctor, according to what is determined by the implementing regulation of this law.

5- The management of private health institutions is restricted to those with appropriate qualifications from Saudis.

The provisions of paragraphs (4) and (5) of this article do not apply to international medical centers and hospitals – and their branches – in certain cities and governorates, according to the controls determined by the implementing regulation of this law.

Premises of a private health institution shall conform to the sanitary conditions as well as architectural specifications and proper distribution. It shall contain the necessary furniture, and medical and non-medical devices and equipment. The institution shall have a medical waste disposal system, an infection control system, and a medical information system. The required standards and conditions shall be specified in the Implementing Regulations.

1. No private health institution may be opened or operated except after satisfying all the conditions and requirements stipulated in this Law and its Implementing Regulations, upon obtaining all necessary licenses.

2. Health institutions shall be granted a renewable five-year license.

A private health institution shall be classified, upon obtaining or renewing a license, according to the criteria and conditions established by a specialized committee. The Implementing Regulations shall specify such committee and determine classification procedures and manner of implementation.

Every private healthcare institution must determine the prices of the services it provides, which are then approved by the Ministry after reviewing them and ensuring their appropriateness according to the standards it sets. These prices may not be modified except with the approval of the Ministry, and the institution is obligated to comply with the following:

• 1- The approved prices of healthcare services.

• 2- Displaying the prices in a prominent place and in clear writing.

• 3- Providing an approximate report to the patient about the cost of treatment before it begins and the services that will be provided to them.

• 4- Providing a final detailed statement to the patient about the type of treatment and the services provided to them and the cost of each.

A private health institution may not hire physicians or other health practitioners or pharmacists except after they obtain a license to practice from the Ministry.

The number of beds may not be less than 30 beds in a general hospital; 20 beds in a hospital with two specialties; and 10 beds in a single specialty hospital.

A hospital shall have an adequate number of resident physicians, specialists, consultants, pharmacists, technicians, nurses, support health staff, and other necessary services according to its capacity and level of classification, in accordance with the standards and controls set forth by the Implementing Regulations.