Article 29 of the Saudi Private Health Institutions Law

This article gives the Minister of Health an exceptional power in emergency circumstances.

When? In emergencies that require mobilizing all health resources. The restriction is twofold: the situation must be an emergency, and it must require mobilizing all health resources, not merely ordinary pressure on services.

What is the power? To order the use of:

• Any private health institution, or
• Part of it,

for the purposes he sees fit. The Minister assesses the purpose of the use.

The return: the Ministry pays fair costs for the period of use. The use is not free, nor is it confiscation, but a temporary use in return for fair payment. The article does not state how these costs are calculated.

Notes:

• The power is discretionary ("the Minister may").
• The rule covers "any" private health institution, of the types stated in Article 1.
• The payment is tied to "the period of its use", so the use is temporary by nature.

It is preceded by Article 28, which requires hospitals to have a medical library and other institutions to have scientific periodicals, and followed by Article 30, which requires the private health institution to report criminal incidents and patient deaths immediately to the security authority and the health affairs directorate.

If an institution disagrees with the Ministry about the amount of the fair costs, it may consult a lawyer who specializes in administrative cases.