KUCHING: The Pillar Foundation wants to help Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) fill a psychological vacuum in its healthcare service.
The Pillar Foundation president Dato Paduka Aisah Mahmud said human contact is an essential element to aid healing, and medical staff would not be able to give full attention to everybody at the same time.
“Some patients have family members or friends staying with them here, and that in itself is a healing process,” Aisah said, adding that the foundation is willing to organise volunteers to help with the human aspect.
“Young children who accompany their family here are usually left alone. Maybe we can find them reading material and activities, and have someone manage this group of people. It can become a community on its own.”
Aisah said this during a visit to hand over contributions that include fans, a TV set and microwave oven to help alleviate conditions for the staff and patients.
On hand to receive the goods were deputy director (medical) Dr Mohd Azri Riffin and deputy director (management) Norman Peter.
The Pillars Foundation, registered in May 2012, offers assistance to the poor in urban and rural communities through outreach programmes and activities.
Aisah added that they assist the elderly who are poor, and work with youths who have fallen between the cracks of society.
Some of their activities include motivational talks and outings for problematic boys placed in a home under court order for committing petty crimes. The foundation aims to show them that society and the community still care for them.