ISKANDAR PUTERI: After a three-year closure due to a shortage of medical staff, two wards at the Sultan Ismail Hospital resumed operation on Wednesday.
State Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the reopening was made possible after the Health Ministry recently approved the appointment of 35 nurses to fill the medical staff shortage in the state.
The nurses are now stationed at the two wards at the hospital.
Ling said the wards, with a capacity of 54 beds each, are currently reduced to 34 beds each to allow the new nurses to familiarise themselves with the equipment before it could operate at full capacity.
On the progress of the new state government hospital -Hospital Sultanah Aminah 2 (HSA2), which was set to commence construction in 2024, at a plot of land in Kempas in Skudai, in Johor Baru, Ling said it would require further discussions.
"The 207.5 hectares site, which has been identified to build HSA2, belongs to the Defence Ministry.
"Discussions between the Defence and Health Ministries are underway," said Ling, who is also the Yong Peng assemblyman.
Without getting into details, Ling revealed that the land acquisition progress faced some difficulties, and the issue had been brought to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's attention.
The need for HSA2 is to address the issue of overcrowding in the two existing government hospitals, namely the Sultan Ismail Hospital and the Hospital Sultanah Aminah.
HSA2 aims to alleviate the strain on Johor's existing healthcare infrastructure, which has been grappling with overcrowding issues due to the growing population and increasing demand for medical services.