Upgrades at old hospitals to prevent fires

GAS pipes and electrical outlets in old hospitals will be separated to prevent fire due to a gas leak.

The Health Ministry also wants to upgrade the gas lines and electrical wirings in such hospitals and is asking for an additional budget from the Finance Ministry to carry out the works.

Its Deputy Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya said safety audits conducted in hospitals nationwide found some problems in this area.

“In some of the older hospitals, the medical gas pipes supply oxygen.

“If there is a leak and a spark, then there can be fire, so we are looking into how we can separate the gas pipes from the wiring.

“It will take time and involve high cost,” he said when replying to a supplementary question from G. Manivannan (PKR-Kapar) yesterday.

Dr Hilmi said the ministry had conducted an overall fire safety audit in 46 hospitals built more than 50 years ago to identify if they were at risk.

He added that the audit revealed many risks, including electrical systems that were old and gas systems that did not follow current standards.

The ministry, said Dr Hilmi, also found that some hospitals which are over 50 years old were at risk of fire and required upgrading works to ensure that the daily operations were not disrupted.

He said an estimatedRM379.34mil is required to resolve the issues faced by the hospitals.

Earlier, Dr Hilmi said a burnt capacitor in one of the lights was the cause of the fire that damaged the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru last year, which killed six patients.

He also said that the ICU ward is now on the ground floor of the hospital’s west wing.