No More Politicking With The State Hospital

I'm amazed at the level of awareness of our State YB on the actual situation of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) that our Assistant Rural Development Minister Datuk Sairin Karno, YB for Keningau, said "the Kota Kinabalu hospital (QEH) management should look for a suitable site to build a new hospital, instead of buying yet another private hospital or an old building". YB also said that the Keningau District Hospital is still new and very well equipped for solving hospital-related problems in the city. He is also concerning about the millions of Ringgits that could be required for resolving the crisis.
(Please refer to the following URL for details of news report from Daily Express 22-March-2009, http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=63646)

Honestly, he was only slightly right and mostly "wrong" in his understanding of the situation, it's shocking and disappointing to hear from a people's representative so ignorance of a crucial and important matter albeit of the controversy surrounding it right now; I'd strongly suggest that the State Cabinet or State Assembly convene an emergency briefing to all State & Federal YBs on the pressing matter, considering that the QEH is a State hospital, i.e. it should be the best in the state and among the bests in the country.

It's not really a simple case as perceived by YB Sairin. It's bad enough for him to have "sleepless" nights if he ever been briefed on the situation.

It's already a "nightmare" to send patients between hospitals around Kota Kinabalu, what more if it is between Kota Kinabalu & Keningau, as it's common experience for most travelers of the danger of this route. If it's really not a problem to travel on the Kota Kinabalu-Keningau route as claimed by the honourable YB, then the building of the existing Keningau hospital may sound like a waste of public money; that the people of Keningau could have been using the QEH than having their own.

It certainly not funny for both patient and their relatives to be away from their home by being placed in Keningau hospital. There have been cases of next-of-kin and relatives of patients complaining of the inconveniences and stresses to travel on the relatively easier distance between Beaufort and Kota Kinabalu.

The Honourable YB should get down to the "field" to feel and see the reality before making himself look naive, perhaps he's innocent as he's probably never briefed in the assembly or through the cabinet.

The truth is that the QEH is in critical condition and time is insufficient to build a new one within a tolerable time frame. As time is critically important in the quest of saving life, the immediate availability of the SMC definitely a perfect solution to alleviate the situation.

The idea of acquiring the SMC, the only modern hospital available for sale in the area, may look "shameful" to the federal government or State Government, however, if the decision is adopted, may actually turn out to be the "saviour" of the federal government at the end.

There are wrong perceptions by most of the public, especially and regrettably some politicians either from BN or Pakatan Rakyat, that the QEH solution is either getting this building or that building; in actual fact, all the buildings like the Twin Tower Block, New Kinarut Hospital,SMC, Bukit Padang Mesra Hospital, New Heart Centre, or even the Penampang Hospital are all supposedly to be delivered "yesterday", some even as long as twenty years ago!

In other words, Sabah should be asking for all these facilities delivered now even if it's already late and long over-dued for years.

We need a hospital building like SMC anyway, if pricing is the main concern, then the government should engage a reputable or more than one professional valuers to carry out the task of valuation. It may be a refreshing idea that the oppositions engage their own professional valuers to have a "fair" comparison, instead of throwing doubts about the purchase. Nevertheless, the politicians should know their role and boundary well, and not trying to meddle in everything beyond their competency, and making themselves look funny.

There should have been, and should be, a thorough study of the needs at the existing QEH site where an integrated and complete solution should be appropriately designed, planned and implemented, in smooth and less-disrupted stages.

This time round, based on the past experience, we hope that our YBs are all working sincerely, diligently and dedicating their times by especially following up closely with the progress of our hospitals that are going to last for many years to come.