Hospital to have new block with more than 300 beds
MIRI: Facilities at Miri Hospital will be upgraded to meet the needs of the growing population and increasing demand for medical care.
Among the plans in the pipeline is to build a new block to accommodate more than 300 beds, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya told reporters during a visit to Miri Hospital yesterday.
“The plan to build a new block to accommodate more beds to decongest the current situation is one of the solutions. Though the call for tender had been done, it failed. Therefore, we are calling for tender the second time,” Dr Hilmi said, adding that they had high hopes that the project would be started within this year.
With the population of Miri at about 250,000 and bed occupancy rate of 125 daily, Dr Hilmi said the hospital had become so congested, forcing the hospital to place beds very near to each other.
“It is actually not good, because it poses safety risks. Therefore, there is a dire need for a new block with more beds. In the meantime, patients will have to bear with the situation,” he told reporters after visiting the male and female wards.
Miri Hospital is the reference hospital for many places like Limbang, Lawas, Marudi and Bintulu.
On the lack of parking space that had been creating a lot of issues between the public and hospital management, Dr Hilmi said they were looking for a solution to the problem.
“To be honest, every hospital in the country has parking issues and the congestion is very serious.”
Asked whether it is possible for the government to build a multi-
The plan to build a new block to accommodate more beds to decongest the current situation is one of the solutions. Though the call for tender had been done, it failed. Therefore, we are calling for tender the second time. Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya, Deputy Health Minister
storey car park as a solution, Dr Hilmi replied that it could be possible.
“We are now trying to do a pilot project in Peninsular Malaysia, where at Klang Hospital and Serdang Hospital, we had called for proposal (from the private sector), and are examining the proposal. We will consider it, if there is any (from Miri).”
The main concern, he pointed out, is to make sure that the parking fees are affordable.
“One of our terms is to make sure that they ( private company) do not charge too high for the fee. It must be affordable or better, at minimal charges. We must also take the medical staff working at the hospital into consideration, either free- of- charge or with special rate.”
The deputy health minister was on a short stop at the Miri Hospital to check on the medical facilities and to give away Chinese New Year hampers to the patients.
He was accompanied by Miri Hospital director Dr Jack Wong and his deputy Dr Alice Tiong, matron Chieng Sui Hoon as well as medical staff to the wards and intensive care unit.