Chong Wei helps hometown hospital add 32 Covid-19 beds

 

A donation from retired national badminton player Lee Chong Wei has enabled Bukit Mertajam Hospital to build new wards for an extra 32 Covid-19 beds.

Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim shared today that Lee’s foundation contributed RM243,000 to the project.

“Today I visited the worksite where they were building extra space at Bukit Mertajam Hospital.

“With this, the hospital will have an additional 32 Covid-19 beds and will be able to give early treatment to serious patients while they wait for an ICU at Pulau Pinang Hospital,” he tweeted.

“The RM243,000 project cost was donated by Yayasan Lee Chong Wei. Thank you our hero, our Bukit Mertajam boy, anak Malaysia,” Sim added.

Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim visiting the hospital

Lee, a former badminton world number one and Olympic silver medallist, grew up in Bukit Mertajam.

Meanwhile, Sim shared on Facebook that the extension involved adding two rooms to the Emergency and Trauma Department.

Work on the project began today and is expected to be completed in two weeks.

Penang has been experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths. Today alone it recorded 1,462 new cases.

Over the past two weeks, the state has recorded the highest number of deaths per 100,000 people nationwide - 18.

Bukit Mertajam Hospital was converted into a hybrid hospital on July 25, treating Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients.

It made headlines last month when videos emerged showing patients being treated in a makeshift ward next to an overflowing monsoon drain.

The Penang health department later explained that hospital workers resorted to such measures due to a high number of patients. - Mkini