PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry must look into the issue of non-functional operating theaters at Pusat Jantung Hospital Serdang (Serdang Heart Centre), says Hartal Doktor Kontrak.
“The Health Ministry must look into this matter urgently. How can a newly built heart centre still be non-functional after two years?” the pressure group said in a Facebook post Wednesday (May 15).
It also questioned if there are other reasons hampering services at the cardiac centre.
“Could there be other reasons hampering or sabotaging the service provided by the Cardiac Centre which may end up putting the lives of the rakyat at stake?” it asked.
The group added that referring a single patient to the National Heart Institute (IJN) for cardiac surgery could exceed RM50,000 and said it would be more cost effective to rectify the issue at the operation theatres, which will allow heart procedures to be carried out at the centre.
The Star reported on Tuesday (May 14) that four operating theatres at the cardiac facility cannot be used due to maintenance issues.
Meanwhile, only one of the four older operating theaters is operational at the old hospital building.
This has left 1,000 patients in need of urgent heart surgery on the waiting list for several months.
A senior hospital official, when contacted, said the air conditioning in two operating theatres had been repaired as of May 13 and it would be functional soon.
Work to repair the other two is going on as well, he said.
The official confirmed that four cardiothoracic operating theatres in the main hospital building were affected due to air conditioning problem.
“The operation theatre at the heart centre block has yet to be operational,” the source said, adding that the contractors are looking into it.
