Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today said urgent measures will be taken to relieve congestion issues at Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA), Johor Bahru, pending future plans to construct a second government hospital in the area.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said an RM500 million allocation has been approved for phase one of the hospital’s upgrades, including to build a new multi-storey carpark.
“We have approved, for example, the multi-storey carpark, and the state government has taken immediate actions to facilitate (construction) with the local council.
“Just for this hospital, phase one requires half a billion ringgit. As for the Finance Ministry, we want this project to be expedited,” Anwar told reporters at HSA after visiting the facility together with Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustaffa and Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
“The half-a-billion allocation was approved, but for phase one, I have asked for it to be expedited.
“The parking (problems) should not obstruct plans to rebuild several hospital blocks,” said Anwar.
He added that related tenders will also be fast-tracked for construction to start this year.
Malaysiakini learnt that part of the parking congestion was also caused by non-patients working in Singapore who used the hospital’s parking facility, as they could take a nearby bus to the causeway.
Anwar added Zaliha had several months ago raised the long-standing issues of patient congestion at HSA to the cabinet, so steps were taken to approve the initial allocation.
Upon arrival at HSA, Anwar, Zaliha, and Onn, accompanied by HSA director Dr Sal Atan, were briefed on the hospital’s current situation and projection of patient load.
According to the briefing notes, HSA is currently operating with 1,206 beds and has served 45,000 patients in the first six months of this year.
Established in 1882, HSA is one of the oldest government-funded multi-specialty hospitals.
It is the largest hospital in Johor and also the main referral and tertiary health centre for the state. - Mkini
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