TO ADDRESS mounting challenges, Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital in Penang has adopted a balanced Oncology–Palliative Hospice (O-PH) model, where oncology service revenues fund fully subsidised palliative and hospice care.
The hospital board’s deputy chairperson Rita Chiam said the hospital faced challenges such as ageing medical equipment, rising maintenance costs and a shortage of oncologists and nurses, compounded by increasing financial pressures.
“Strategic planning and sustainable funding are essential to ensure patients in need are never turned away,” she said.
According to Chiam, the key pillar for this was the establishment of the endowment fund to provide more stable, long-term financial support.
“The endowment fund will provide a sustainable and stable source of funding to complement our revenue,” Chiam said in her speech at the hospital’s 50th anniversary Thanksgiving Mass.
She noted that while the hospital had long relied on generous community donations to subsidise treatment and fully fund hospice care, depending solely on annual fundraising had become increasingly precarious.
The Golden Jubilee celebration mass was presided over by Bishop of Penang Cardinal Datuk Seri Sebastian Francis at the hospital’s chapel in Tanjung Bungah, followed by the blessing of the anniversary cake and a reception.
Guests were also pleasantly surprised with an ang pow presentation after the cake-blessing ceremony.
Describing the milestone as a moment of gratitude and fidelity, Chiam also paid tribute to the clergy, religious sisters, donors, staff and volunteers who had sustained the hospital since it opened its doors on Feb 21, 1976.
The hospital’s roots trace back to the late Reverend Francis Chan, a cancer patient, who envisioned accessible and compassionate cancer care.
His mission was later carried forward with the support of the Grey Sisters, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood Sisters, medical professionals, benefactors and volunteers.
Over the decades, it has grown into a not-for-profit community hospital serving patients of all races.
Also present were Catholic Health Care Asia steward Fredrick McGuire and Mount Miriam chief operating officer Gemma Ong. — By LAI KHAN HOONG
