PETALING JAYA: Hospital Tambunan’s long-abandoned Outpatient Department building project will be revived to improve the comfort of patients and staff, says Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
The Health Minister said the decision to revive the project, nine years after it was previously suspended, came after a visit found significant overcrowding at the hospital’s current common areas.
“It was heartbreaking to see patients and staff forced to crowd and squeeze together every day because of this issue.
“As such, we will revive this ‘sick’ project and ensure it is completed for the comfort and rights of the people of Tambunan,” he said in a statement posted on his Facebook page yesterday.
Dzulkefly also announced an immediate RM988,000 allocation of funds to address urgent needs at the hospital, with a large portion of it channelled towards the hospital’s Emergency Department.
He also said RM185,000 of the allocation would be used to repair the hospital’s severely damaged canteen building which had left staff and visitors with no proper place to eat.
“The remaining funds will be used to purchase medical equipment and other much-needed amenities,” he added.
Dzulkefly also thanked Keningau MP Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan for having donated a hydraulic bed and an ultrasound machine to the hospital.
He said the Tambunan assemblyman’s contribution will join the additional six hydraulic beds and one ultrasound machine that had also been approved for the Hospital Tambunan yesterday.
The minister said that improving the hospital’s dental clinic would be a priority with a funding request for it to be included in the upcoming 13th Malaysia Plan.
“As the heartbeat of healthcare in Sabah’s interior, Hospital Tambunan requires urgent attention.
“Let us also not forget that the responsibility of safeguarding the people’s health is made easier when all parties work together,” he said.
Having begun operations on Sept 16, 1977, Hospital Tambunan is a non-specialist hospital with a capacity of 49 beds and serves as the main healthcare hub for around 43,400 residents living nearby in seven sub-districts and 88 villages.
Belonging to the Keningau Cluster, the hospital provides comprehensive services including 24-hour emergency and trauma care, outpatient and inpatient services, among many other services.
