PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has not finalised or issued any order to shut down the 1Malaysia clinics.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah confirmed this today in response to social media pictures of closure notices involving several 1Malaysia clinics in the Klang Valley.
He said the ministry had not finalised or issued any order to shut down 1Malaysia clinics which had been identified for possible closure under its reviewing exercise as announced by the Health Minister recently.
"The reviewing process is still being fine tuned before the ministry's top management makes any final decision on the matter," he said in a statement, adding that any decisions on the 1Malaysia clinics would be made soon.
The ministry, Dr Noor Hisham said, gave its assurance that the closure of selected 1Malaysia clinics would be done in an orderly manner to ensure there would be no disruption in rendering health services.
Dr Noor Hisham reiterated the ministry's position to review the 1Malaysia clinic programme, saying the 1Malaysia clinics would be rebranded as Community Clinic with its operations and premises to be upgraded.
"The upgrade as announced by the health minister will include posting medical and pharmaceutical officers at the premises in stages," he said.
It was reported that all 347 1Malaysia clinics were being reviewed and clinics that received less than 50 patients daily would be closed down.
Dr Noor Hisham said clinics located near other health facilities and with high overhead costs would be closed down too.
The 1Malaysia Clinic, which was established in 2010, received an average of 1.3 million patients annually, which saw an increase to 6.59 million patients last year.
In the early stage, the clinic offered basic services for fever, flu, cough and simple procedures like wound dressings and lab tests.
The clinics now also offer treatments for chronic diseases and maternity care at selected areas.