Sarawak private hospitals asked to pitch in as cases increase

The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) has asked its member hospitals in Sarawak, particularly in Kuching, to assist the government in managing the rising numbers of Covid-19 patients in the state.

APHM president Dr Kuljit Singh said as of yesterday, there were 3,732 positive Covid-19 cases reported in the state although the percentage of cases in Category Four (lung infection and requiring oxygen) and Category Five (lung infection and on ventilator) was fortunately in single digits.

However, he said the cumulative number of Category Four and Five patients in the ICU and wards would soon increase beyond the available space, exhausting healthcare personnel at public hospitals.

“One private hospital which is part of a conglomerate (from West Malaysia) in Kuching has agreed to accept self-paying Covid-19 patients within the next week once retrofits and approvals have been obtained.

“However most private hospitals in Kuching have small bed capacity and their percentage of available beds and ICUs for Covid-19 is limited. The other private hospitals in the city of Kuching are in discussion to provide assistance if requested by the government,” he said in a statement today.

Kuljit also expressed hope that more non-Covid patients from government hospitals could be decanted to private hospitals in Kuching which would create space for Covid patients to be treated at government facilities.

“This process of decanting had a huge success in the Greater Klang Valley with 3,187 patients receiving care in private hospitals. Currently there are about 1,000 beds available for future decanting.

“We hope private hospitals in Kuching and other towns in Sarawak will be able to follow the efforts made by the private hospitals in the peninsula both in treating self-paying Covid and decanted non-Covid patients based on their existing capacity and capability,” he added.