S’gor hospitals ‘running smoothly and able to cope with Covid-19’

KLANG: Hospitals in Selangor are still able to cope with the number of Covid-19 patients as well as patients with other non-communicable ailments.

Selangor Health director Datuk Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman (pic) said a system had been in place to ensure the state’s healthcare catered to all and continued to run smoothly.

“In Selangor only Hospital Sungai Buloh and the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) 2.0 Integrated Hospital exclusively handle Covid-19 cases, ’’ said Dr Sha’ari, adding that the latter was also equipped with intensive care unit requirements.

According to Dr Sha’ari, when patients are diagnosed with Covid-19 in other hospitals, they are sent to MAEPS if they are under category 1 or 2.

“If their condition is more serious, they are sent to Hospital Sungai Buloh or treated at the hospital they had initially gone to, ’’ he said.

He said other hospitals had also been equipped to handle an increase in patients due to the number of Covid-19 cases that they had to treat as well.

“Take for instance Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang, we have added extra intensive care unit beds so all cases can be handled without a glitch, ’’ he added.Dr Sha’ari said the Selangor Health Department was also putting in huge efforts to preserve Hospital Shah Alam as a non-Covid-19 hospital.

He said this was to ensure there would not be any encumbrances at the hospital in the event of urgent surgeries or treatment.

“If someone suffers a serious head injury and needs urgent surgery, they can be taken to Hospital Shah Alam, which has no Covid-19 cases, to be attended to immediately, ’’ he added.

A source close to the Selangor government revealed there was a great possibility the state would play a wider and more independent role in caring for Covid-19 patients.

“We feel the healthcare system is struggling and therefore have plans for a new approach which is being looked into by the mentri besar, ’’ he added.

According to the source, the new approach would be to implement a homecare system to manage Covid-19 patients who are not hospitalised but home-bound.

“Currently we are looking into various elements to ensure we have the capacity and ability to carry out homecare and follow-up treatments for Covid-19 patients in the state, ’’ said the source.

He said the Selangor government would establish its own medical team to monitor the state’s Covid-19 patients in order to help lessen the Health Ministry’s workload.

“If everything goes according to plan, we will be rolling this out in the first quarter of the year, ’’ said the source.

Selangor Public Health, Unity, Women Empowerment and Family Committee chairman Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud was not available for comment at press time.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Thursday, in his address, that the nation’s healthcare system was near breaking point.He said Covid-19 hospitals, including intensive care unit wards, was almost reaching 100% capacity and it must be quickly addressed to prevent the nation’s healthcare system from becoming incapacitated.