PETALING JAYA: Johor has one of the highest clinical post fill rates in the country, even as the Health Ministry moves to address staffing shortages at Hospital Pasir Gudang (HPG).
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said official records showed that 99% of pharmacist posts in Johor had been filled, alongside 82% for dental officers, 81% for medical officers and 77% for medical specialists.
He said the ministry remained fully committed to meeting Johor’s healthcare needs and ensuring the optimum delivery of services to the people.
On HPG, Dzulkefly said the hospital was operating with 1,075 staff, representing 48% of its total staffing requirement.
He said the hospital, which began opening in phases in August last year, is targeted to reach 66% operational capacity by September and become fully operational by December.
Full operations would cover 304 beds and 16 delivery rooms, he added.
“The ministry is actively implementing an aggressive staffing action plan to ensure HPG achieves full operations by December 2026,” Dzulkefly said in a statement on Friday (Aug 14).
As of Aug 11, he said 176 of the hospital’s 206 medical officer posts had been filled, giving it a fill rate of 85.4%.
The remaining vacancies are expected to be filled through new appointments this year, he added.
Dzulkefly said the hospital’s medical specialist fill rate currently stands at 36.36%, but is expected to rise to 48.05% after nine pre-gazettement specialists report for duty between August and October.
“HPG has begun offering 10 basic specialist services, including internal medicine, emergency medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedics, anaesthesiology, radiology and pathology.”
Ophthalmology, its 11th specialist field, is expected to be introduced within the next six months.
Dzulkefly said the placement of 80 newly appointed assistant medical officers in early October would raise the fill rate for such posts from 68% to 91%.
The nursing post fill rate, currently at 32.24%, is expected to rise to 40.42% after 70 additional nurses report for duty in September.
He said recruitment is also under way for allied health professionals, including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians and medical social workers, whose posts currently have a fill rate of about 45%.
As an interim measure, he said the ministry is using cluster arrangements and visiting specialists to support facilities facing staff shortages and ensure patients continue receiving services based on clinical assessments and emergency priorities.
Dzulkefly said staffing at HPG must be carried out strategically and gradually to avoid affecting services at other hospitals.
“The ministry bears a major responsibility to ensure a balanced distribution of human resources without compromising the continuity and quality of services at hospitals in other states,” he said.
At the national level, he said the ministry has increased specialist training slots through parallel pathway programmes to 600 annually and is offering incentives to encourage officers to remain in the public service.
It has also raised annual nursing intake at Health Ministry training institutes from 3,000 in 2025 to 5,000, with four new nursing colleges expected to open by October next year.
