SANDAKAN: The visit of the Minister of Community Development and People’s Wellbeing, Datuk James Ratib to the Dutches of Kent Hospital Sandakan on Sunday revealed several key issues that need to be prioritized here.
“I have already visited the Dutches of Kent Sandakan Hospital and asked for a briefing from Dr Fahmi as the director of the hospital.
“We were given several briefings and the most important thing we are emphasizing here is the construction of a private hospital in Sandakan.
“This is because there are already two private hospitals in Tawau while there are many in Kota Kinabalu, but there is no private hospital in Sandakan,” he said.
Therefore, James asked any foreign investors who are interested, to come forward and invest in building a private hospital in Sandakan.
This is because, he said, if there is a private hospital here, it will allow our medical experts to serve here and it will be an attraction for doctors to serve longer in Sandakan.
“We take an example like in Kota Kinabalu, when they are not working in the hospital, they can do locum in private hospitals. This can increase the income of doctors, especially our medical specialists.
“The same is the case in Sandakan. Many of our specialists sometimes have a lot of free time. If there is a private hospital, here they can come there to serve.
“In addition to that, if there is a private hospital here, there is no need for them to go to Kota Kinabalu or Kuala Lumpur and so on. This is because, here too, we will place specialist doctors to serve in this private hospital,” he said.
So once again James, who is also the Sugut Assemblyman emphasized that he invited investors from outside to build a private hospital here.
According to him, this proposal will be presented to the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Hj Noor and he hopes it will be approved by the Cabinet.
“Regarding the site, maybe we will help to identify where is suitable,” he said.
Meanwhile, James was informed by Dr. Fahmi that there is still a lack of buildings in Sandakan.
Therefore, he said, the State Government also hopes that the Ministry of Health can build a new hospital or an additional hospital in Sandakan to accommodate several specialist blocks and so on.
“The same goes for some urgent matters such as old buildings that need to be maintained.
“We were informed that this building has been in use since 1952 and many buildings have been damaged.
“So it also needs to be repaired immediately because if not, we are worried that it will harm the patients, users and even the staff at the hospital itself,” he explained.