RM224m Radiotherapy and Oncology Centre to open next week

KOTA KINABALU: The RM224 million Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy and Oncology Centre, the first such centre in East Malaysia, is set to open next week.The eight-storey structure, which is housed at the Sabah Women and Children's Hospital (also known as Likas Hospital), occupies four hectares of a sprawling 25-hectare site.

State Health Director Dr Christina Rundi received the key to the centre from the Health Ministry's Secretary-General, Datuk Farida Mohd Ali, in April last year during the handing-over to the ministry by the Federal Public Works Department (JKR).

Director of Sabah Women and Children's Hospital, Dr Tan Bee Hwai, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has been given the honour to grace the occasion. Health Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam will be represented by the Director-General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The centre's Deputy Directors are Dr Marcus Netto (Medical) and Puan Christni Alus (Management).

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Dr Tan said the Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy and Oncology Centre serves as a regional centre with a capacity for 155 beds to meet the treatment needs of cancer patients in Sabah and Sarawak.

"The main services comprise outpatient oncology clinics at the Radiotherapy and Oncology Department, Nuclear Medicine Department, Smart Operating Theatre and School-in-Hospital. The Bone Marrow Transplant Unit is housed on the 7th floor.

"There are wards for surgical oncology, radiotherapy, pediatric oncology and radioiodine treatment.

"The centre is equipped with sophisticated and hi-tech facilities such as linear accelerator (Linac), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, brachytherapy machine, CT simulator and Gamma camera," he said in an interview.

A linac is a radiotherapy treatment machine while brachytherapy is short-distance radiotherapy (in the layman's term). A CT simulator is a CT scanner used to obtain images for radiotherapy planning.

According to Dr Tan, the Radiotherapy and Oncology Department is officially recognised as a centre of excellence (COE).

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The Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy and Oncology Centre boasts a number of specialists. Among them are clinical oncologist Dr Flora Chong Li Tze (Head of Radiotherapy & Oncology Department), clinical oncologist Dr Muthukkumaran A/L Thiagarajan, pediatric orthopedic surgeon (Head of Orthopedic Department), pediatric hemato-oncologist Dr Asohan Thevarajah, pediatric hemato-oncologist Dr Mohd Iqbal Ayen (Trainee to Dr Asohan), pediatric opthalmologist Dr Shuaibah Abd Ghani (Head of Pediatric Opthalmology Department), pediatric opthalmologist Dr Premadeva A/L C. Satkurunathan, Nuclear Medicine Specialist Dr Mohd Wajdi Ghazali and gynae oncologist Dr Suguna Subramaniam.

CAPTION: The Nuclear Medicine, Radiotherapy and oncolgy.

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