KOTA KINABALU: A lodging centre will be built here for family members from outstation accompanying patients seeking inpatient treatment at government hospitals.
Kota Kinabalu Member of Parliament Chan Foong Hin said the announcement was made by the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Wan Azizah, who is also Women, Family and Community Development minister, gave the update in a written reply to a question raised during the parliamentary debate for 2020 Budget yesterday.
“I welcome this announcement. Patients from all over Sabah, when they come to Kota Kinabalu for treatment, they will get subsidised stay in the hospital.
“However, family members accompanying the patients would not enjoy such treatment.
"They may end up sleeping on the floor in the hospital ward if they could not afford to pay for accommodation in hotels or other guesthouses," he said in a statement.
Chan added that the lodging centre, dubbed as ‘Anjung Kasih’, would help family members to have proper rest after accompanying patients for treatment.
In addition, Wan Azizah's ministry is also mooting to set up ‘Anjung Singgah’, which aims to provide social assistance and intervention to the homeless and vagrants living on the streets of Kota Kinabalu.
"Both ‘Anjung Kasih’ and ‘Anjung Singgah’ are being set up by the ministry through the Yayasan Kebajikan Negara Malaysia (YKN) on a piece of land owned by Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
"It would be located along Jalan Kebajikan, strategically between Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital II," Chan said, adding that the negotiations with the varsity are expected to be finalised soon.