Deal on buying medical centre enters final lap

NST: KOTA KINABALU: Signs are positive that a deal to buy the 171-bed Sabah Medical Centre (SMC) will materialise soon, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said yesterday.
The latest indication comes after months of negotiations between the government and SMC owners following the pressing need to meet the shortage of hospital beds when the tower block of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) was declared unsafe last October.
Rosnah said discussions were at the final stage, but declined to give details, stating that the minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai would make an announcement " soon" if the deal came through.
"However, if for any reason the deal does not materialise, then we will look at alternatives. These include building six wards with 144 beds at the QEH car park, and renting several buildings (in the city)," she said after attending a three-hour briefing and dialogue with administrators and doctors at QEH near here.
QEH's tower block, which had 250 beds and operating theatres, is now abandoned following findings by engineers that the structure was built using unwashed sea sand that had eaten away metal bars holding the building.
While QEH has some wards in an older but stable building, patients are now being sent to other government hospitals, and to the SMC.
Rosnah pointed out that although the SMC may not have many beds, it had a number of facilities for important medical procedures, including surgeries.
On the construction of the 661-bed building at QEH which was made public long before the tower block was emptied, Rosnah said it would continue and that piling work had been completed.