KUCHING: The Director-General of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday clarified that the two major government hospitals in Johor Bahru did not have any record of a female patient from Sarawak seeking treatment after a car accident earlier this month.
He was referring to the report “Johor GH asked to shed light on why Sarawakian refused admission” carried by The Borneo Post on Jan 12 based on a complaint received from a patient’s father through social activist Wan Zain Syed Mohdzar.
Wan Zain claimed that the patient who was from Sibu was sent to Johor General Hospital for treatment after an accident but was denied admission by the hospital.
Dr Noor’s statement was confirmed by the patient’s father Hasim Kaderi who told The Borneo Post yesterday that he was sure the hospital his daughter went to was a private hospital in Johor Bahru.
The Borneo Post had contacted Hasim last week and he promised to call back this week to confirm the name of the hospital which turned his daughter away.
He added that his daughter was turned away by the private hospital as she could not pay the deposit for admission.
“It was a miscommunication between me and Wan. I had brought this matter to him with the hope that we would be assisted by the public to ease the financial burden incurred due to the accident,” he said.
In a press statement issued yesterday, Dr Noor said the Johor State Health Department found that the allegation was not supported by solid evidence after investigation.
“The ministry was made to understand that the patient came to Johor General Hospital (JGH) on 6th, 7th and 8th of January 2014. Since there are two major referral hospitals in Johor Bahru namely Hospital Sultanah Aminah JB (HSAJB) and Hospital Sultan Ismail JB (HSIJB), we have made an effort to contact the patient with the name given in The Borneo Post article by tracing the hospitals’ registers but we have found none,” the statement said.
Dr Noor said the Health Department viewed the case very seriously.