Published on: Saturday, April 11, 2009 |
Kota Kinabalu: The proposed plan for Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) to take over Sabah Medical Centre (SMC) "within six months" to resolve the beds shortage includes the provision of 300 beds, 29 ICU beds, two Cardiac Operating Theatres, two Cardiac Laboratories, five operating theatres and all the relevant facilities.
At the same time, QEH is allowed to carry out its expansion according to the Ministry of Health's (MOH) requirements. However, there is no mention of when the duration of the six months was to end or how much the planned takeover would cost. Except that the price to be offered by SMC "would definitely be low, compared with the cost of past hospitals built by the Government."
A SMC spokesman who declined to be identified confirmed in a statement that negotiations had been going on between the Ministry and SMC and that it is "now up to the Ministry to make the final decision".
The spokesman said that based on the plan, within two years SMC would be handing over to the MOH the following:
A tertiary care hospital equipped with 450 beds; 43 ICU beds; 12 operating theatres; two Cardiac Laboratories; a complete range of specialist departments and all the required hospital back-up facilities, besides a fully-equipped Heart Centre and more than 500 parking spaces.
"This would essentially provide once and for all, the people of Sabah, a one-stop full facilities hospital that would save them the trouble, money and time of having to seek treatment outside Sabah. Based on our knowledge and experience, this could be the most efficient option for MOH to obtain an additional 300 beds within six months and 450 beds in 24 months.
"If the said proposed plan is implemented, it would completely address the ongoing crisis in QEH within six months. This includes solving the shortage of 265 inpatient beds in QEH," he elaborated in a statement.
The spokesman stressed that the plan was possible because SMC is a readily-available, professionally designed-and-built hospital whose design has taken into consideration, the requirements of the medical profession and those of the patients and their families.
According to him, both MOH and SMC came up with the complete plan after the Ministry had approached SMC for assistance to take in the QEH patients who were then being evacuated from the hospital after it was officially declared unsafe for occupation last July.
"It all started when we (SMC) answered the MOH's distress call last year, seeking our help to house the QEH patients who were being decanted from the hospital.
"Within a short period of three days, SMC managed to work against all odds to take in the patients. We not only allocated two floors of wards, nine ICU beds, three operating theatres and all relevant services for the patients but also created a dedicated entrance and waiting-area for the convenience of the QEH medical staff, patients and their families.
"It was during this period that the Ministry expressed its intention of taking over SMC," he recalled.
The spokesman said the Ministry has since carried out and completed the evaluation and inspection of SMC.
He was responding to the speculations made by certain parties in the last few months, over SMC's proposed acquisition by MOH to resolve the QEH woes.
He maintained that the various speculations as well as criticisms made by certain quarters over SMC's proposed acquisition by MOH, were to a large extent inaccurate and misleading.
"Hence, SMC feels compelled to come forward to state its stand over the issue, not so much because it wants to defend itself but because it is driven by its professional ethics and conscience that it has a social obligation towards the people of Sabah.
"We in SMC believe that we have a social responsibility in helping to solve this crisis. As professionals in this field, we realise the seriousness of the issue.
"We believe that MOH too is equally concerned and giving top priority and urgency to address the grievances, anger, frustrations and sufferings of the patients who are essentially the people of Sabah."
The spokesman reiterated that SMC's involvement and commitment towards solving the QEH crisis was purely on humanitarian ground and social responsibility basis following MOH's request for help and after thorough and professional consultations with the ministry.
Against this backdrop, he expressed regret that the noble-and-well-intended negotiation between MOH and SMC had been misconstrued.
"It was even exploited by certain quarters for reasons known only to them, without actually knowing the real situation. It was especially unfair to both SMC and MOH when these people started to speculate and expound over the high price of the proposed acquisition when both parties had not discussed such a matter," he lamented.
The spokesman also described the portrayal of SMC by its critics as some sort of merchandise that is up for grabs in the market, as a gross insult to SMC and its management.
"This is because SMC was never built with the intention to sell but to provide the best medical facilities in terms of its state-of-the-art design, supported by the best equipment. Professional manpower and services."
He regretted that some quarters have conveniently chosen to ignore SMC's long commitment and contributions towards the State's healthcare through its long-established close working relations with MOH for the last one decade or more.
"We have provided such services like heart surgery, cardiovascular treatment, Radiotherapy treatment, etc, which were not available in QEH, to the people of Sabah," he said.
