Eight institutions stand on one site in the middle of Riyadh, each of them whole, none a department of any other: a main hospital, a children’s hospital, a women’s hospital, a hospital built for recovery alone, and centres for neurosciences, the heart, cancer, and metabolic disease. Together they make up King Fahad Medical City, one of the largest medical complexes in the Kingdom.
How Did KFMC Come About?
The foundation stone was laid in 1983 by Salman bin Abdulaziz, then prince of the Riyadh region and now the King. The institutions came into service one at a time: the Children’s Specialized Hospital on 6 June 2003, the Women’s Specialized Hospital that October, and the Comprehensive Cancer Center in June 2004, which gave its first chemotherapy during Ramadan of that year. The Crown Prince inaugurated the city on 5 October 2004. The King Salman Heart Centre followed the next year, and a 2011 royal decree gave the National Neurosciences Institute its present form. In January 2026, the Riyadh Second Health Cluster, with KFMC as its medical city, was among the first group transferred from the Ministry of Health to the Health Holding Company, the state company taking over the delivery of public healthcare across the Kingdom. Alfagih Hospital Riyadh careers offer a variety of opportunities for healthcare professionals looking to make a difference in the community. The hospital is committed to providing comprehensive training and development for its staff.
What Is the Institution?
KFMC is made of four hospitals, the Main Hospital, the Children’s Specialized Hospital, the Women’s Specialized Hospital, and the Rehabilitation Hospital, and four centres, the National Neurosciences Institute, the King Salman Heart Centre, the Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Obesity, Endocrine and Metabolism Center. The campus is a city in more than name, holding a medical faculty building, an auditorium, and more than two thousand residential units for the people who work there. It is the medical city of the Riyadh Second Health Cluster, the network of public hospitals and clinics serving more than 3.8 million people. Healthcare opportunities at Sheikh Tahnoon Medical City are vast, catering to a diverse range of medical specialties.
A Western-trained consultant joining this campus does not join a department of a large hospital. They join one of the eight: a children’s hospital, a heart centre, a neurosciences institute, a whole institution built around their field, with the other seven on the same ground.
| The eight institutions | Detail |
|---|---|
| Main Hospital | General tertiary care |
| Children’s Specialized Hospital | Opened June 2003 |
| Women’s Specialized Hospital | Opened October 2003 |
| Rehabilitation Hospital | First full-scope rehabilitation in the Ministry of Health system; CARF-accredited since 2010 |
| National Neurosciences Institute | Present form by 2011 royal decree |
| King Salman Heart Centre | TAVI/TMVI, endoscopic and congenital cardiac surgery, ECMO |
| Comprehensive Cancer Center | Kingdom-wide referrals; first in Saudi Arabia accredited by IASIOS (2024) |
| Obesity, Endocrine and Metabolism Center | Metabolic disease |
What Is the Clinical Work?
The National Neurosciences Institute was established to be a benchmark for specialist neuroscience in the Kingdom. The King Salman Heart Centre carries the specialty’s full range: transcatheter aortic and mitral valve implantation, endoscopic cardiac surgery, congenital interventions in adults and children, and ECMO for hearts and lungs in acute failure. The Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of the main referral centres for haematology and oncology in the public system, and in July 2024 KFMC became the first institution in Saudi Arabia to earn accreditation in interventional oncology from IASIOS.
Then there is the Rehabilitation Hospital, the first in the Ministry of Health system to provide full-scope rehabilitation, CARF-accredited since 2010, with separately accredited programmes in spinal cord injury, brain injury, and paediatric rehabilitation. Its stroke team is led by a physician, behind whom stand rehabilitation nurses, physical and occupational therapists, a speech pathologist, a psychologist, a social worker, a dietician, a case manager, a vocational counsellor, a therapeutic recreation specialist, an art therapist, and religious counsel. A study of 383 stroke patients on its wards measured each at admission and discharge and recorded significant recovery of function.
For the Western-trained consultant, the Rehabilitation Hospital is the detail that explains the campus. The institute that operates on an injured brain and the team that returns that patient to work and family stand on the same ground and answer to the same institution, so the whole course of the hardest cases, from theatre to the end of rehabilitation, is held in one place.
What Teaching and Research Runs at KFMC?
The executive administration for academic and training affairs was established in 2004, the year the city was inaugurated, so training was founded with the campus rather than added to it. The peer-reviewed literature on Saudi residency training studies KFMC alongside the capital’s other major training hospitals, and its allied health arm alone trains across 55 specialties. Its simulation centre, CRESENT, runs life support and skills training, postgraduate and undergraduate simulation, and curriculum development, and publishes on its own methods. The Research Center keeps laboratories in histology and microbiology, molecular medicine, biochemistry, and analytical chemistry, plus a satellite laboratory of the Saudi Human Genome Project, and in July 2024 Boston Oncology and KFMC signed a memorandum to localise cell and gene therapy in Saudi Arabia. Brand Finance’s global survey of academic medical centres has placed KFMC second among Saudi institutions and inside the world’s top 100.
What Are the Terms for Doctors?
A post at KFMC today sits inside the Riyadh Second Health Cluster, under the Health Holding Company. The employer is new, but the terms of public medicine in the Kingdom are not: there is no tax on the salary, housing is part of the package, provided or paid as an allowance, medical care covers the family, international staff receive annual flights, and Saudi labour law adds an end-of-service payment when the post concludes. None of this is won in negotiation. It comes with the post. Gulf job salary and benefits are structured to attract skilled international professionals. Employers in the region understand that competitive compensation packages play a crucial role in recruitment.
How Allocation Assist Supports Doctors Relocating to the Gulf
As a medical recruitment and healthcare jobs consultancy in Dubai, our team has been placing Western-trained doctors in top-tier hospitals across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar for over 11 years. We work exclusively with consultant-level physicians and maintain relationships with 95+ leading institutions.
Key Areas of Support
- Hospital matching, finding the right environment for your specialty, seniority, and personality.
- Licensing and regulatory navigation, including DHA, DOH, MOHAP, and SCFHS credentialing.
- Interview and salary negotiation support, so you walk into the conversation prepared.
- Relocation and family logistics, coordinating the practical side of the move for the whole family.
- Ongoing support after you arrive, including networking events and a peer community of doctors who have made the same move.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is King Fahad Medical City?
It is one of the largest public medical complexes in Riyadh, made of four hospitals and four specialist centres on one campus, eight whole institutions in all. It is the medical city of the Riyadh Second Health Cluster, serving more than 3.8 million people.
What hospitals and centres does it contain?
Four hospitals, the Main, Children’s, Women’s, and Rehabilitation hospitals, and four centres: the National Neurosciences Institute, the King Salman Heart Centre, the Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Obesity, Endocrine and Metabolism Center.
What are its cancer and cardiac capabilities?
The Comprehensive Cancer Center takes referrals from across the Kingdom and in 2024 became the first in Saudi Arabia accredited in interventional oncology by IASIOS. The King Salman Heart Centre offers transcatheter valve implantation, endoscopic and congenital cardiac surgery, and ECMO.
Does KFMC teach and do research?
Yes. Academic and training affairs were founded with the campus in 2004, its allied health arm trains across 55 specialties, and its CRESENT simulation centre and Research Center both publish. Brand Finance has ranked it second among Saudi academic medical centres and inside the world’s top 100.
Who runs KFMC now?
Since January 2026 it has sat within the Riyadh Second Health Cluster under the Health Holding Company, the state company taking over the delivery of public healthcare across the Kingdom.
What are the employment terms?
A tax-free salary, housing provided or paid as an allowance, medical cover for the family, annual flights for international staff, and an end-of-service payment under Saudi labour law. These come with the post rather than being negotiated.
