PONTIAN, Feb 15 — Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad said the ministry is in urgent need of sufficient manpower in order to fill new hospitals and health facilities nationwide.
He said the country needs medical staff to meet the needs of the national healthcare system.
“The current shortage is not because of a stringent selection standard by the Health Ministry, but due to a limited supply of medical and health graduates.
“Our newly built health facilities can only operate effectively with the support of sufficient health workers such as medical officers, nurses, specialists and support staff,” he said in his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Hospital Pontian’s additional annex at Dataran Pontian here today.
Present during the event was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
He was accompanied by Pontian MP and deputy works minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan and senior government officials.
Dzulkefly explained that this year’s first intake of house officers was only able to fill 10 per cent of the vacancies.
“We simply do not have enough graduates to fill the available vacancies.
“We need to come up with new measures to attract more medical graduates and to alleviate the health profession as a rewarding career,” he said.
Dzulkefly pointed out that there was also a need to address the move by government doctors to the private healthcare sector, that includes overseas employment.
He said there must be a comprehensive plan and a whole-of-government approach to resolve the shortage issue.
“This cannot be tackled by the Health Ministry alone as we need outside support to resolve the issue effectively,” he said.
On the new Hospital Pontian, Dzulkefly said the highly awaited project was an important milestone for the public healthcare sector.
He said the upgrade would allow Pontian and its surrounding residents to receive specialist medical treatment and to ease the overcrowding situation at public hospitals in Johor Bahru.
“I hope that the Hospital Pontian project will serve as a benchmark for all future hospitals nationwide,” he said.
Hospital Pontian currently operates as a general district hospital for the Pontian and surrounding districts, catering to semi-urban and rural folk.
With the construction of the new 10-storey annex block, the hospital will be upgraded to a minor specialist hospital.
