KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah, especially Kota Belud, urgently needs a new hospital to cater to the rise in Covid-19 patients as well as new, proper beds in existing hospitals, Parti Warisan Negara women chief Munirah Majilis told the Dewan Rakyat today.
The Kota Belud member of parliament called on the government to look into the rundown state of district hospitals in Sabah, especially in her constituency.
Munirah suggested, among others, for the government to build a new hospital in Kota Belud as well as changing old beds in existing district hospitals given the severity of the Covid-19 situation in Sabah.
"I suggest that a new hospital is built in Kota Belud. Also, change the beds in the hospitals because there are hospitals that are still using wooden beds or steel beds which are very old.
"When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Sabah, it was difficult to transport or shift the position of the beds as they did not have wheels.
"These types of beds still exist in district hospitals in Kota Belud," she said in the Dewan Rakyat when debating the 2021 Budget Bill today.
Munirah also suggested for a molecular lab to be built in Tawau to share the load with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as well as a public health lab in Sabah so Covid-19 results can be expedited.
"I understand that these are part of the Health Ministry's plans, but I hope they can be expedited as the East Coast (of Sabah) is one of the hardest hit during this Covid-19 pandemic.
"There is also a lack of machines used to treat patients such as pulse oximetry machines.
"When talking about medical services, the feedback I received from frontliners is the lack of treatment facilities, such as the pulse oximetry machine that is used to measure blood oxygen levels.
"In Kota Belud, a lot of patients turn up at the hospitals complaining of breathing difficulties."
The database system in hospitals, according to Munirah, is outdated, adding that patient database should be digitised since manual systems waste a lot of time.