JOHOR BARU: The Johor Health Department will promptly hire 35 permanent nurses to alleviate staffing shortages at Sultan Ismail and Sultanah Aminah hospitals.
Also in the Health Ministry's purview are the appointment of assistant medical officers and several other contract positions, which are currently pending confirmation.
Its minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said a special allocation of RM771,600 for the purchase of medical and non-medical assets had been approved.
Also approved was an expenditure allocation warrant of RM634,916.00 for the acquisition of non-medical assets to meet both hospital's urged needs.
Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi had earlier called for the shortage of healthcare personnel in the state to be effectively addressed to improve the quality of public health services.
This was following the menteri besar's visit to Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) on May 31, and discovered that there were two unutilised wards with a capacity of more than 100 beds.
The two wards on the ninth and 10th floors of the hospital were not in operation due to insufficient manpower while the paediatric and emergency wards were full of patients, leading to a waiting period of between five and six hours.
Sultanah Aminah Hospital, the second busiest public hospital in the country after Kuala Lumpur Hospital, is facing a shortage of 200 doctors.
Dr Zaliha said the special allocation was to enable the immediate reopening of the two wards at HSI.
The funds are to be channelled towards assets including bed sets and medical equipment, namely Defib with Pacing, Basic Dinamp, Vital Sign 4 Channel, ECG Machine, Portable X-Ray Viewer, and among others.
In a statement today, Dr Zaliha said the ministry was committed to addressing healthcare personnel shortage nationwide.
She said the best solution was via data updates and mapping to ensure the placement of healthcare personnel, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and others, meets the current needs of the hospitals.
The data mapping also helps to identify hospitals and health clinics' requirements and optimal operational needs
Meanwhile, Onn Hafiz took to his official Facebook account to thank the minister.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Public Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Zulkapli Mohamed and Health Ministry deputy secretary-general (Finance) Datuk Seri Norazman Ayob, for visiting the hospitals and addressing the issues faced in a swift manner.
Onn Hafiz said the manpower and allocations were timely, as Johor is in crucial need of 2,800 healthcare professionals, including 680 nurses, to avoid overcrowding of patients at hospitals and health clinics.