Materia Medica Malaysiana

Review building of costly hospitals

The building of big hospitals that cost more than five-star hotels needs to be reviewed, Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek said.
“We can’t afford to build a hospital that costs between RM500mil and RM700mil,” he said.
He added that the ministry was in favour of small ones; for example, a 20-bed hospital with basic medical facilities such as a maternity ward and an X-ray machine.
Pointing out that a 76-bed hospital costs more than RM100mil to build, he said that some of the big hospitals were under-utilised.
He said some were operating at half capacity and with a bed occupancy rate of less than 25%.
“We have one or two nurses looking after one patient in some hospitals while in others there are not enough staff. This is a luxury we can’t afford and we have to readjust,” he added.
He felt that there was a need to have open tenders to reduce the rising cost of constructing hospitals.
“With open tenders, there will be competition and we can keep costs down,” he said after visiting the Cameron Highlands Hospital site here yesterday.
He also visited hikers Rahman Othman and his nephew who were recuperating at the Tanah Rata Hospital. The two were rescued after they went missing while hiking up Gunung Brinchang on Tuesday.
On the abandoned Cameron Highlands hospital project, Dr Chua said work would start in a month and it was expected to be completed within eight months.
The original contractor had failed to complete the project, which was supposed to be completed in 2004 at a cost of RM98mil. Syarikat Mars Trading and Construction (M) Sdn Bhd has been awarded the RM46mil contract to complete the remaining 33% of the work.