令人震惊的新闻！

副衛長：第九大馬計劃下未提供有關撥款庇新醫院
落實無期

这是一则本地华文报刊登的亚庇伊莉莎白中央医院的新闻标题，别人看了的感受如何？我并不知道，而我看后却十分不是味道，我心里不禁要问：“沙巴子民不是人吗？沙巴子民缴付的稅金就不是钱吗？患病有区分吗？”。当这间沙巴首府最大间的中央医院被鉴定为危楼后，病患就被迫安顿在亚庇地区四周的大小医院，对于整个医务行政已造成了问题，同时，也直接对中下阶级的本地人民造成影响。民生问题是急需解决的，政府应该要衡量事情的重要性，而不是借故推搪，让人有逃避责任的感觉。一个政权的未来希望，取决于其运作，为民服务的表现，如果永远脱离不了官僚作风、繁文缛节的申请手续、慢斯条理的工作态度，那是人民的不幸！

“第九大马计划没有提供建新医院的拨款”是很不负责任的牵强理由，难道国家领导不懂何谓人命关天吗？人民还要等到什么时候呢？

(转载）

【亞庇二日訊】州人需要繼續等待一些時日才能擁有一所新中央醫院來克服伊麗沙白女皇醫院過於擁擠的問題，因為政府在第九大馬計劃下根本沒有提供這方面的撥款。
副衛生部長拿督阿杜拉迪指出：「我們已原則上同意設立一所新醫院，但我們不能保證何時可以落實。」
他今日在此間為一項啟蒙學校食品安全運動主持推展禮後，受詢及政府有何計劃解決伊麗沙白女皇醫院八層大樓因結構問題而停用後，醫療服務陷入一片混亂及過於擁擠的問題。病人已經被遷往州內其他醫院。
他說：「我們仍在等待財政部和經濟策劃單位。」
無論如何，他表示政府已經物色興建新醫院的地段。
首席部長拿督斯里慕沙阿曼日前表示將親自與衛生部長拿督廖仲萊交涉，俾儘快解決上述問題。
衛生部全國總監丹斯里莫哈末依斯邁馬里甘醫生去年年底視察伊麗沙白女皇醫院時曾說，該部將考慮州政府撥地興建一座新醫院的建議。
他說，衛生部了解伊麗沙白女皇醫院過於擁擠的現象，所以決心擬定長遠方案為亞庇興建另一座中央醫院，因為病床數量必須增加以滿足需求。
他說，伊麗沙白女皇醫院與建新的雙子大樓，隨時可以容納六百名病人，該計劃在第九大馬計劃下持續推行。
早前首席部長與衛生部部長拿督廖中萊會面後，曾向衛生部獻議在京那律撥地予衛生部興建醫院用途，而衛生部已原則上接受。
沙巴衛生部總監馬祖基依沙醫生已否認，計劃在京那律興建的新醫院，是取代原伊麗莎白女皇醫院之用。
他指出，由於沙巴醫療服務需求量日漸增加，因此衛生部早已計劃在本州增設一所醫院。
有報導指衛生部早前曾與沙巴醫藥中心接洽，獻議買下現在位於路陽該中心並將之轉爲政府醫院，以減輕伊麗莎白女皇醫院病床爆滿問題。

What's happening to Sabah's Hospital QE?

I'm writing this letter both as a concerned citizen, and as a member of the healthcare profession who once served in this venerated hospital in Sabah. The tower block of Hospital Queen Elizabeth was a relatively late addition being built in 1981 at a cost of RM20 million. The tower block, as I remember it, housed the operating theaters, surgical disciplines, the ICU/CCU as well as the First Class wards, in addition to the Radiology Department. On October 25, 2008, a mere 17 years after completion, parts of the tower block of Hospital Queen Elizabeth were declared unsafe, this, too, after it had already been suspect for over two years. Services were distributed to ‘nearby’ district hospitals and ward space was rented from a private hospital. Interestingly, this private hospital had sold their previous building to the ministry of health around three years ago and this is now the site of the Women and Children's hospital and the Likas Specialist Hospital. A short three days later, the Sabah chief minister declared that the QE Hospital would be relocated to a new site. By November, the plan appeared to have been changed to that of purchasing the private hospital, no doubt for a premium, though no steps have been taken in this direction either. On Dec 2, a media report quoted an expert saying that a new tower block would be the best option for the QE Hospital. Thus far, no definite plan has surfaced; and I have no doubt that patient care has suffered as a result. The administration of the hospital and the state health department should be held accountable for the lack of progress towards a definite solution for the past five months or so. Let's consider the last of three options first; building a new tower block. A second tower was already proposed and planned for even in 2004. The reason for construction of the second tower was to help cope with an increased patient load that the QEH was already facing, and to bring it up to par with other tertiary referral centres in the country. The logic was simple. When compared to hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia, where care of a patient can be transferred from state hospitals to HKL or other referral centres via ambulance, transferring an ill patient from Sabah to the Peninsular is both costly and dangerous what with a three-hour flight. Building a new tower block would necessitate the demolition of the old tower block, which would invariably affect the stability and safety of patients in the adjacent medical wards in the old 1957 block. Leaving the old tower intact while building the new tower is simply asking for trouble. Where would these patients be moved to? At present, there is no viable option to decant patients to a safer area. Building the new tower after demolition of the old building will also take up much time, during which patients will continue to suffer. The new tower will not solve the bed shortage problem that has plagued this hospital for the past decade and should not be considered a long-term solution. The second option is purchasing the private hospital. No doubt this seems like a fantastic short- term measure. You solve the problem of having no hospital by buying a ready-made building that has already been designed as a hospital. You have a new hospital at the stroke of a pen and everyone's happy. However, I'm sure the cost of buying the hospital will be astronomical and disproportional to actual cost of constructing a new one. There will be terms and conditions, I'm sure, that will ensure that the private hospital moves out in stages, while their new building is completed, and hence although you might end up buying a 200-bed hospital, you might only get 100 beds for the next two years. Another case in point is that private hospitals tend to cut corners when they build and the facilities available, although impressive looking, may be just that - impressive looking. Renovations might have to be done to bring it up to specifications and to the present level of new hospitals such as hospitals in Ampang, Sungai Buloh or Serdang. Finally, there is the option of building a new hospital. This is by far the best option in my opinion but likely the most expensive as well. Building a new hospital, preferably within the town or in adjacent areas like Dongongon would be the perfect solution with both ends of the town covered by either the new Hospital Queen Elizabeth or by Likas at the other end. There would be little sense in placing such a hospital far away from Kota Kinabalu in a place like Kinarut or Tuaran. The powers-that-be should plan for a hospital to suit the needs of the population. Perhaps instead of a 600-bed hospital, build a 900-bed hospital with proper facilities for sub-speciality services, better operating theaters, better CT and MRI machines and a cardiac catheterisation lab. Steps could be taken to computerise the hospital as well. The plan to build a cardiac centre should be forgotten for the time being and steps be taken to sort out the mess that the main hospital is in at the moment.