Bigger hospital planned for Kota Kinabalu

NST: KOTA KINABALU: The state capital needs a bigger hospital, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said yesterday.
"We need a bigger hospital for the people within Kota Kinabalu and we are willing to give a plot of land big enough to build it."
Musa said he had ordered state Land and Survey Department director Datuk Osman Jamal to find a suitable plot within the city.
"We have good and new hospitals all over Sabah, but here, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is getting more congested. I will bring this up in the next cabinet meeting," he said during the Sabah MIC Deepavali open house hosted by its state liaison committee chairman, Datuk V. Jothi, at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex in Likas.
For about a week now, the Health Ministry has been evacuating patients from the 27-year-old Tower Block at QEH following reports made by a consultant company that the building was unsafe.
The damaged Tower Block has 250 beds and several key facilities, including eight surgery rooms, the forensics department, intensive care unit wards, radiology services and a pharmacy.
The Beaufort, Keningau and Likas hospitals are now being used temporarily to accommodate patients from QEH but the government is also looking into the possibility of renting or buying services of private hospitals nearby.
Among its options are the Sabah Medical Centre and Damai Specialist Centre, both located within the Luyang area.
A new 10-storey building is also nearing completion in the QEH.