Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal said Sabah is in urgent need of improved medical facilities and specialists.
He said major hospitals in the State are lacking specialists and there is also a need to construct new hospitals to cater for the growing population.
Welcoming Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement on the proposed Sabah Cardiology Centre at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital (QEH II) here,
Shafie said there should be a dedicated heart hospital built for the State.
He said the heart hospital could be located outside Kota Kinabalu in the west coast due to the growing population there.
Shafie, who is also Semporna MP, said he often raised in Parliament the issue on the lack of cardiologists and other specialists in Sabah.
He said major hospitals in Tawau, Sandakan and Keningau do not have heart specialists and this is a problem during emergencies.
Shafie revealed that there had been cases where heart patients died because they did not receive treatment in time.
“We can’t afford to send the patients to Kuala Lumpur. So we need the facilities here in Sabah,” he told reporters after a walkabout at Dongonggon town in Penampang.
.The former Sabah Chief Minister also said there is an overall need to improve medical facilities in the districts.
For example, he said the State’s main general hospital – Queen Elizabeth Hospital I – has 700 beds and even food for the patients have to be sent from QEH II.
“At times there were visitors looking after their warded family members who had to sleep on the floor,” he added.
Warisan’s Kota Belud MP Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis, in thanking Anwar, also called for the setting up of a Sabah Heart Hospital.
She said in a Facebook post that it is good that the Federal Government is taking action to improve health services in Sabah.
“The Federal Government must correct the imbalance in the provision of services in the states,” she said.
During his visit to Kota Kinabalu on Saturday, Anwar said a special block meant for cardiology cases would be set up at the QEH II.
He said three cardiologists would be transferred here and announced an immediate RM80 million allocation to start the project.
