The King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFHU) in Khobar, Saudi Arabia is a public hospital affiliated with Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (formerly called University of Dammam, which was previously a part of King Faisal University). The hospital was built by the Ministry of Health under the 'Five Hospitals Project' as Al Khobar Teaching Hospital and was subsequently transferred to King Faisal University. It was renamed King Fahd Hospital of the University and was inaugurated on 19 May 1981 (1401 AH) by then Minister for Health, Dr. Hussain Al Jazairy.
The hospital's main purpose is the training of students during their clinical years. It has a 550-bed capacity distributed in a four-floor building. Each floor has different wards and serves a different category of patients. The hospital's functions include patient care, teaching and training, and scientific research. History King Fahd University Hospital was constructed by the Ministry of Health under the 'Five Hospitals Project' as Al-Khobar Teaching Hospital, and was subsequently transferred to King Faisal University. Its title was changed to King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFHU) as part of the renaming of hospitals established under the project. KFHU was inaugurated on 19 May 1981 by Hussain Al Jazairy, the then Minister of Health. In 1983, the hospital was accredited for training in Family and Community Medicine.
In 1985, a grant supporting a King Faisal University tumour-registry project became associated with King Fahd Hospital of the University. The project was described as the first attempt to establish a regional population-based tumour registry in Saudi Arabia. The hospital later served as the Eastern Region office of the Saudi Cancer Registry.
The Dammam branch of King Faisal University became an independent entity, known as the University of Dammam, in 2009. In 2016, the university was renamed Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in 2016.
The hospital received Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation in 2015 and entered a second accreditation cycle in September 2018. Ministry of Health figures and academic reports list the hospital as having 550 beds.
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the hospital participated in a Saudi multicentre study of convalescent plasma. A later analysis reported that 185 intensive care patients were recruited at KFHU between March and September 2020.
By 2021, KFHU was described as a comprehensive stroke centre in the Eastern Province and had implemented a "thrombectomy-and-back" transfer model for patients requiring mechanical thrombectomy. In 2024, the hospital's Heart Centre introduced robot-assisted open heart surgery; by August of the same year, the hospital reported completing 12 such operations. In 2025, the hospital reported the use of robotic surgery to stabilise spinal and pelvic fractures.
Healthcare information system King Fahd Hospital of the University uses electronic information systems for clinical care, patient records, scheduling, and related administrative functions. A study based on data collection in 2014 reported that the hospital used QuadraMed electronic health record system.
As part of its computerised medical records system, KFHU uses numeric unit numbering, under which each patient is assigned a unique identification number. The hospital has also used a straight numeric filing system for patient records. More recent research using KFHU records from 2024 and 2025 identifies InterSystems TrakCare as the hospital's information system. TrakCare was used to retrieve both clinical and administrative information, including appointment dates and status, care provider, department, service, payer, and patient categories.
See also
List of hospitals in Saudi Arabia List of things named after Saudi kings
References