Egypt’s university hospital system has achieved an unprecedented leap in performance during the 2024/2025 fiscal year, reflecting the state’s strong commitment to healthcare reform and improving the quality of services provided to citizens, according to Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr Ayman Ashour.
In an official statement on Tuesday, Dr Ashour highlighted the ministry’s strategic focus on modernising university hospitals through intensive education and training programmes aimed at enhancing the skills of medical and nursing staff. He also referred to the integration of cutting-edge medical technologies as a key driver in ensuring patients receive the highest standard of care.
A core pillar of this development strategy, he said, is the expansion of interdisciplinary specialisations and the comprehensive digitisation of hospital services to streamline administrative procedures and raise overall efficiency.
The minister reported a significant increase in government funding for university hospitals, with the annual budget rising from LE10 billion in 2014 to LE28 billion in 2024. The current network includes 145 university hospitals, 52 of which are specialised centres covering fields such as oncology, mental health and addiction treatment, women’s health, geriatrics, clinical toxicology, emergency medicine, hepatology, paediatrics, ophthalmology, nephrology, urology, one-day surgeries, obstetrics and gynaecology, and cardiothoracic and vascular surgery.
These facilities account for 30% of all inpatient beds and 50% of intensive care unit beds across Egypt’s public healthcare sector, significantly bolstering access to specialised and high-quality care nationwide.
In FY 2024/2025, the university hospital network provided medical care to nearly 25 million patients and performed more than 620,440 surgical operations across various medical disciplines. Of these, approximately 350,000 were complex procedures requiring advanced technical expertise and specialised equipment, including 220 robotic surgeries, 40 of which were performed on children.
Hospitals also delivered around 588,000 haemo dialysis sessions during the same period. This expansive care capacity is supported by 34,618 hospital beds, including 5,254 intensive and intermediate care beds and 896 neonatal incubators.
“These achievements underscore the efficiency and resilience of our university hospitals and reaffirm their critical role in delivering world-class healthcare to Egyptians,” Ashour stated.
As part of its broader infrastructure development plan, the ministry invested LE19 billion in 160 projects to upgrade facilities and enhance service quality. These included the renovation of 33 hospitals and the implementation of 127 upgrade initiatives.
Among the most notable developments was the inauguration of the Liver Transplant Centre at Mansoura University—the largest such facility in the Middle East and Africa—at a cost of LE1 billion.
Additionally, the Suez University Hospital was established with a budget of LE2.4 billion. The hospital features 17 outpatient clinics, 15 operating theatres, 260 beds, and specialised units such as dialysis and intensive care.
The Medical City at Ain Shams University also underwent a comprehensive modernisation programme, receiving LE10 billion in funding. The upgrade included expanded intensive care units and the introduction of new neonatal care services.
