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The Ministries of Health and Public Works of the government of Chile have published a schedule for the tender of eighteen hospital concessions with a total investment of over US$2.5 billion.

Private partners will be sought to construct, equip and maintain the hospitals, with the Ministry of Health to take care of operations and clinical services.

This ambitious programme is set to commence shortly, with the first tender to be launched before December. It will cover three hospitals in the Maule Region of the country, located in the south. The new hospitals will replace facilities in Cauquenes, Constitución and Parral that were built in 2010 to replace those damaged by the earthquake.

The remaining tenders will be structured as such:

As with the inaugural tender, the hospitals located in the Biobío, Los Ríos and Coquimbo regions will be tendered together, with one concessionaire to be awarded a contract for each region. It has not been decided whether the remaining hospitals will be tendered in similar regional blocks or separately. The government intends to make a decision after the first few block concessions have been awarded.

In order to make the tenders as attractive and competitive as possible, there is not expected to be any limits on the number of concessions that one company or consortia can bid for. Furthermore, the government will take on environmental risks and responsibility for land reclamation. This will both exempt the concessionaires from a potentially arduous bureaucratic process and enable construction to commence as soon as the concessions are awarded, ensuring prompt completion.

The tenders are part of the government's US$10 billion Health Investment Plan (Plan de Inversiones de Salud​), which will cover 57 hospital districts and deliver 12,400 beds across the country.