KULIM: The Kulim Hospital urgently needs more medical staff and better facilities to serve the growing population in Kulim and nearby areas.
Padang Serai member of Parliament Datuk Azman Nasruddin highlighted the hospital's long-standing shortage of doctors and nurses.
"Besides Kulim residents, Kulim Hospital also caters for patients from Padang Serai and Bandar Baharu. Some from the Baling district are also directed here," he said when contacted. Azman stressed that this issue has persisted for some time.
Azman also pointed out the need for a new building at the Kulim Hospital to accommodate the increasing number of patients.
"I hope the Health Ministry will act swiftly to address these issues to provide quality health services for the people.
"Furthermore, Kulim Hospital is located within the Kulim Hi-Tech Park area, which contributes significantly to the country's Gross Domestic Production," he said.
Kulim assemblyman Wong Chia Zhen also shared the same concern, saying that he has been getting complaints from his constituents over long waiting hours for treatment and insufficient patient beds.
"In the past years, Kulim has experienced rapid development but the facilities and human resources at Kulim Hospital are unable to cope with the rising demand for healthcare services.
"I hope the Health Ministry will give due attention to the dire need to improve the facilities and human resources at the hospital," said Wong, who is also the state Human Resources, Chinese, India and Siamese Community, and NGO Committee chairman when contacted.
Meanwhile, state Health, Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Major (R) Mansor Zakaria acknowledged the shortages in Kulim Hospital.
"The state government agrees with the Health Ministry's stand on this issue based on the response by the Health Minister.
"The appointment and deployment of specialist doctors and supporting staff must be given priority to cater for a high volume of patients," he told the NST when contacted.
Yesterday, Health minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad directed the Director-General of Health, Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan, to immediately redeploy house officers (HO) to district hospitals in need.
In a posting on X, Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry is implementing various short and long-term improvement measures to address complaints.
He had said this in responding to the viral social media issue involving images of medical staff's messages, written on a whiteboard at a hospital in Kedah, apologising to patients for prolonged waiting times to see a doctor.