Materia Medica Malaysiana

RM100 Million Face-lift For IJN To Enhance Its Services

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- The government will spend a whopping RM100 million, until 2008, to upgrade the National Heart Institute (IJN) to ensure a shorter wait for patients.
Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said Friday the extension and refurbishing works would be done in three stages and were expected to be completed by 2008.
"In stage one and two we will refurbish and upgrade rooms and other facilities and in stage three, operating theatres and intensive care units will be upragded," Dr Chua told reporters after opening the Ninth Annual National Heart Association Scientific Meeting here.
"Beds will be increased by 20 percent and the upgrading will help to reduce patients' waiting time from the current nine months to one year to about six months," he added.
He said the government felt it was important to improve the facilities and services of the leading heart institute as it was established to help Malaysians seek treatment locally instead of going abroad.
Eighty percent of the IJN patients are dependent on government subsidies while only 20 per cent are paying patients.
Dr Chua also said that the expansion was only a corporate exercise and would not affect clinical doctors working in IJN.
He brushed aside recent newspaper claims of massive resignations of doctors from the institute.
"There were only three resignations and that was between 2001 and 2002 and there may be one later. The rate of resignation is very minimal and it is not true that many doctors resigned," he said.
The current IJN staff strength is 918 of which only 65 are involved in clinical work, including consultants, clinical specialists and medical officers.