IPOH: The Health Ministry is moving to close government health clinics that are no longer suitable to provide optimal service, Deputy Health Minister Dr Lee Boon Chye said.
Dr Lee said the ministry had identified several clinics especially those located in the rural area as these clinics receive less than 50 patients daily, as well as safety factors.
“We will review (clinics that are no longer suitable to operate). In the 1970s and 1980s, there were village clinics (klinik desa) developed to serve the community.
“However these days, there are improvements and development in terms of transportation. That is one of the reasons why we need to close the clinics that are mostly located in rural areas.
“We must know how to optimise operations,” he told reporters after visiting the Bijih Timah Health Clinic in Jalan Sultan Yusuf here today.
Staff members from clinics that had been ordered to close would be transferred to other health clinics.
The move came following a demand by Perak Malaysian Government security office to close the Bijih Timah Health Clinic.
After conducting checks, Dr Lee said the ministry would close the clinic due to insufficient space to store medicines and to offer other services to the patients.
“It is impossible if we want to offer the best services to the patients here because this clinic is old. It (also) does not meet the specifications in terms of the main entrance and others.
“Every day the clinic receives about 52 patients and most of them are not from here. Those who have been receiving treatments here will be transferred to health clinics in Buntong, Greentown, UTC (Urban Transformation Centre) and Kampung Simee.”
Dr Lee said besides Bijih Timah Health Clinic in Perak, the ministry had also closed another health clinic in Miri, Sarawak due to safety reasons.
On a separate note, Dr Lee said that Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun’s (HRPB) maternity, paediatric and cardiology wings here would be fully operational in March.
“As to date, only the Cardiology Unit is operating there. The handover of the building was made last July but we need eight months for testing and commissioning to ensure everything runs smoothly.”