One doctor for every 1,200 patients in Sabah

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Stephen (third left), Jimmy (left), Lee (second right), Dr Teo (third right) and Mohd Ghazali (right) during the ground-breaking ceremony of Tawau Specialist Hospital project development yesterday.

TAWAU: The Ministry of Health and People’s Well-being appreciates the move by the Tawau Specialist Hospital to set up more facilities as Sabah is still lacking specialists, doctors and facilities.

Its minister, Stephen Wong, said health services are among the essential services needed by the people.

“Therefore, we look at various healthcare development programs actively conducted by the government and private parties,” he said during the groundbreaking ceremony of Tawau Specialist Hospital development project yesterday.

He said the ratio between doctors and patients in Malaysia is 1:600 and 1:1,200 in Sabah, which showed that the state is behind the national ratio.

Stephen said with better private healthcare facilities in Tawau, locals do not have to go far to get treatment, and this will certainly save them cost. In addition, more job opportunities can be created in the professional and semi-professional community.

“I am convinced that with the establishment of the new Tawau Specialist Hospital, more and more medical specialists will join the hospital.

Hence, it is a good development for the Tawau community which has so far promoted a more complete private healthcare facility and is an alternative to the existing facility,” he said.

The Tawau Specialist Hospital provides a wide range of patient services which include general health, immunization, endoscopy, radiology, travel vaccination, endoscopy units and services, family planning, gynaecology, nursing, pediatric, mammography, pharmaceutical and surgery.

Also present were assistant minister in the chief minister’s department cum Sri Tanjong assemblyman Jimmy Wong, Tawau Specialist Hospital chairman Datuk Lee Wee Loong, members of board of directors Dr Teo Tu Huah and general manager Mohd Ghazali Zainal.