KUALA LUMPUR: A heart specialist centre will be set up in Terengganu as part of a strategic collaboration between Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) and the National Heart Institute (IJN).
IJN chief executive officer Datuk Dr Aizai Azan Abdul Rahim said it would commence the initial stage of the cooperation with UniSZA in certain cardiovascular as well as thoracic consultancy and advisory services at Hospital Pengajar UniSZA.
"We will start with specialist outpatient treatment first, and expand to other services like paediatric cardiovascular and thoracic.
We are also looking at working on integrated disease management with UniSZA.
"The centre would benefit some 30,000 patients in the East Coast. We have received requests from many people asking if we would give treatment outside Kuala Lumpur. This is the first step towards bringing our services to the people. We will look at possibilities of opening such centres in other areas as well," he told a Press conference today.
In his speech earlier, Aizai said IJN specialists would be assigned to UniSZA Teaching Hospital in Gong Badak, where the centre would be located, to deliver medical services share their skills and participate in joint-research initiatives with their peers from UniSZA.
"Building upon our success so far, a core part of our current strategic plan is to expand our services and expertise beyond the confines of our headquarters in Kuala Lumpur," he said at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) and IJN witnessed by Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Aizai said since IJN's inception in 1992, it had been delivering leading-edge and high quality heart care and treatment to Malaysians.
As of 2020, we have served almost five million people from all walks of life. We have also garnered a strong international reputation and have been accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI) since 2009 and locally by MSQH since 2006, he said.
The MoU outlined their mutual interests to establish cooperation in relation to the provision and establishment of medical and health services, facilities, training, research and other related medical services in Terengganu.
UniSZA vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Hassan Basri Awang Mat Dahan said the construction of the teaching hospital was 85 per cent completed and was expected to open next year.
Present were IJN chief clinical officer Dr Hasri Samion and UniSZA director Hilmi Mohd Nashir.