‘Private hospital medical fees not affected by hike in number of foreign patients’

MEDICAL fees for citizens will not be impacted by the increasing number of foreign patients seeking treatment at private hospitals in Sarawak.

Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who gave this assurance yesterday, said the professional fees are regulated under the Private Healthcare Facilities and Services Act, 1998.

According to him, citizens are protected under the mentioned law from being exploited in the face of more foreign patients coming to private hospitals in the state for treatment.

He was responding to a question raised by Miro Simuh ( BNSerembu) in the august House yesterday.

Lee said Sarawak would see six new private hospitals - three in Kuching and the other three in Miri.

He pointed out that the majority of foreign patients seeking treatment in Sarawak last year hailed from Indonesia ( 24,267), followed by China ( 2,029), the Philippines ( 834), India ( 560), Pakistan ( 356), Australia ( 342), Vietnam ( 313), Brunei ( 298), the United Kingdom ( 260) and Singapore (193).

For the first half of the year, he said Indonesia still topped the table with 15,220 patients seeking treatment at private hospitals in the state.

The rest were from China with 1,292 patients, the Philippines (461), India ( 371), Pakistan ( 228), Australia ( 219), Vietnam (195), Brunei (163), the United Kingdom (158) and Singapore (136), he added.

“The list is too long, so I’ll just provide the top 10 countries. Anyway, there were a total of 38,140 foreigners who received treatment at private hospitals in Sarawak in 2016.

“For the first half of this year, the figure is 20,379,” said Lee.

He said the ministry, through Sarawak Tourism Board, would be having a medical and tourism promotion in Pontianak from Nov 17 to 19.

“There are 11 licensed private hospitals in Sarawak. Of the number, 10 are multi- discipline licensed private hospitals and one is a single discipline licensed private hospital.

“Five of them are in Kuching, two in Sibu, two in Bintulu and two in Miri. The 10 multi- discipline licensed private hospitals are licensed to operate or provide in- patient specialist services, outpatient specialist services and ambulatory care services,” pointed out Lee.

He said the approved number of beds for the 10 multi- discipline licensed private hospitals ranged from 23 to 130 beds.

He added that the single discipline licensed private hospital is licensed to operate or provide inpatient specialist services.

Meanwhile, Assistant Minister of Entrepreneur and Small, Medium Enterprise ( SME) Development Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais said rural entrepreneurs can apply for government assistance which had been made available for the development of SME.

Entrepreneurs could submit their applications to various government agencies for approval, he said in response to a question posed by Datuk Mong Dagang (BNBukit Begunan).

According to Naroden, the ‘One District One Product’ programme was initiated by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to promote local produce so as to spur the socio- economic development in various districts.

In Sarawak, he said Limbang and Lawas are known for handicrafts while Belaga and Kapit offer unique produce such as Empurau and Betong, homestay programme and kuih-muih.

He added that the ‘One District One Product’ programme focused more on participation, product development and quality of products.