Sabah hospital in dire need of ‘treatment’
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s biggest public hospital appears to need “treatment” after a downpour led to leaks in an operating theatre.
A video of the leak at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was uploaded on Facebook by a user named “Pemerhati KKM”, raising concerns about the hospital’s facilities.
The heavy rain at about 4.30pm on Thursday also led to flash flood at the parking area of the hospital.
It is understood that the operation theatre and other parts of the building which were hit by leaks have since been cleaned up.
Workers were brought in to rectify the problem, while Kota Kinabalu City Hall also cleaned up blocked drains to mitigate flash floods.
“We will be taking steps to ensure there is no repeat,” Sabah Health Department director Datuk Dr Christina Rundi said when contacted about the problems plaguing the hospital since its new facilities started operations about four years ago.
Prior to this, a doctor complained about poor maintenance and a lack of facilities at a health clinic in the Kota Kinabalu area.
In the Facebook posting by Permerhati KKM, the writer urged the Health Ministry to improve facilities and not issue show-cause letters to those raising concerns about the condition there.
“We get accused of tainting the good name of the civil service by highlighting shortcomings and failures of the system,” he wrote.
“Should I also be served a showcause letter? I believe the government should be the one writing a show-cause letter to explain itself to Malaysians.”
Permerhati KKM noted that the leaks in the operation theatre could have been dangerous if there had been a surgery going on then.
He said the posting was not meant to run down the state Health Department, which has done a lot for Sabah, but to highlight the state of affairs when it came to the ministry.
Furthermore, he claimed that the budget allocation for Sabah was always insufficient compared to other states in the country.
“How does the ministry expect the state Health Department to manage Sabah when there just isn’t enough money?” the writer asked.
Newly named Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minster Datuk Frankie Poon said the federal government should act on problems at health facilities in the state.
“I will look into it and forward the matter to the Health Ministry and Finance Ministry,” he told reporters.