Speed up construction of new hospital in KK: Eric

Kuala Lumpur, July 4, 2009: Sepanggar Member of Parliament, Datuk Eric Majimbun, said the construction of a new general hospital in Kota Kinabalu should be addressed urgently by the Government.

"The Government seems to be not handling the matter (the hospital construction) seriously despite the fact that it involves the health, life and death of the people in Sabah who have been supporting the present Barisan Nasional government," he said in seeking a discussion on speeding up as well as fixing the timeframe for constructing the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), which the Government had declared unsafe for use on Oct 24 last year, during presenting his adjournment speech at Parliament.

"The Government is indecisive...was it appropriate to take nearly seven months for the Prime Minister to anno9unce the allocation amounting to RM245 million on May 5 this year for the purchase of the second Sabah Medical Centre (SMC) in Luyang?" he asked.

"This earlier allocation announced by the Premier was probably not enough and thus the Health Minister followed up with another announcement that the allocation for the purpose actually totalled about RM280 million, with an additional increase of beds from 170 to 250 units and other facilities costing RM90 million...so the total needed was actually RM370 million," he said.

Majimbun said the QEH is well-known for its specialist treatments as well as advanced medical equipment and that it provided services to not only the half a million city dwellers but also those from other places across the State.

And after it was declared as unsafe, the whole building with about 400 beds, rooms with hospital relief equipment as well as the specialist clinics were seriously affected.

"And today, for more than 239 days, we don't have proper medical services. Patients who require critical attention have their immediate treatment postponed, outpatients who need the specialist doctors' attention can no longer have it in the city but were shifted to any of the hospitals in other districts which makes it hared for their family members to accompany them due to the absence of hostels.

"The hospital staff also have to put up with a working environment that is not conducive, while there are patients forced to sleep on the floor while getting treatment," he said.

The Government is supposed to act aptly by coming up a long-term plan, he said, questioning whether the Government seriously wants to build a Queen Elizabeth General Hospital to replace the Hospital Mesra in Bukit Padang.

Deputy Minister of Health, Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin, in responding to this, said the Government at the moment is still renting the SMC in Luyang and that over RM6 million had been spent so far for the purpose.

She said the Ministry is still sorting out things for the construction of a new building to replace the seven-storey building which had been declared unsafe.

Aside from that, the Ministry is also considering the proposal for Hospital Mesra, she added.