1Malaysia Clinic at Campus Park to be ready next month
SIBU: The latest 1Malaysia Clinic (K1M) at Campus Park in Wawasan Road here is expected to be ready next month
It will be the 10th K1M here – the others are at Sungai Bidut, Rajang Park, Soon Hup Garden ( Permai), Salim Road ( FarleySentosa), Sibu Jaya township, Bandong Road ( Kampung Bandong), Rantau Panjang and in the Urban Transformation Centre ( UTC) Sibu.
“The furbishing works are expected to be completed by this June 17 and we may start (operation) a week after that. We have to clean up first and put in all the equipment,” Sarawak Health Department director Dr Jamilah Hashim said.
She was met after accompanying Assistant Minister of Housing and Public Health Dr Annuar Rapaee during a visit to the Oya Road Polyclinic recently.
Asked on the cost, Dr Jamilah said the Campus Park clinic is a special project, which comes under the Implementation Coordination Unit ( ICU) unlike other K1Ms.
“It is called One Community for You (1C4U) – under that project.”
To a question if there would be other new K1Ms to be built here, she said no as the K1M quota was already full for the whole country.
Across Sarawak, there are already 35 K1Ms with Kuching and Sibu having the most number, Dr Jamilah added.
Presently, all the K1Ms here are staffed by doctors, with the exception of Sungai Bidut and Rantau Panjang clinics.
Meanwhile, it is observed that some members of the public would drop off their parents at Oya Road Polyclinic here early for follow-up treatment as they either need to send their children to school or go to work.
Dr Jamilah noted that they would leave their parents there
The furbishing works are expected to be completed by this June 17 and we may start (operation) a week after that. We have to clean up first and put in all the equipment.
sometime around 6am or 6.30am, despite the clinic’s daily operating hours from 8am till 5pm.
Some members of the public have requested for the polyclinic to open at 6am, but this is not possible at the moment, according to her.
“We want to help but at 6am, we are not open yet because it is not a 24-hour clinic. Hospitals are different because they have emergency (services) – they operate round-the- clock.
“Here, for security reasons, we have to close the gate (after office hours). They ( public) say the lights are on – as ( Sibu Division Health officer) Dr ( Muhamad) Rais (Abdullah) pointed out, that is the security light.
“We don’t leave the clinic in pitch-black darkness, but this does not mean that the clinic staff members are inside and that they purposely do not want to open the gate. We would also like the public to understand that. We are already open 7.30am. In fact, the gate is opened at 7am. The R Lane is for senior citizens, OKU (individuals with disabilities) and children less than two years old – (it is) open at 7am,” she added.
Dr Jamilah observed that despite the staff working hours beginning at 8am, they would already start servicing as early as 7am, saying that: “We should be thankful to the staff.”
According to her, the Oya Road Polyclinic operates through the lunch hour and does not stick rigidly to the daily 8am- 5pm operating hours.
This is because the clinic does not close up until the latest patient has obtained medication.
“We are trying our best. That is our capability at the moment based on our human resource,” Dr Jamilah said.
Dr Jamilah Hashim, Sarawak Health Department director