By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, June 25: Sarawak is facing a critical shortage of heart specialists, with only about 20 cardiologists serving a population of 2.5 million—less than half of the estimated requirement of at least 50 based on national healthcare ratios, according to experts.
Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian said the shortage reflects the demanding nature of cardiac services and the need for continuous specialist coverage, particularly in emergency cases.
“To comfortably run each satellite heart centre, you cannot have just one cardiologist. Cardiology is a 24-hour service — heart attacks happen at night, on weekends, and during the day.
“If you are the only doctor on call, you also get overwhelmed. So minimum for each satellite heart centre, you need at least three to four cardiologists because you need days off and night duty rotation.
“Can you imagine, if the doctor works the whole night, the next day still starts work on you, already very tired. And then ‘oops, mistake’. That mistake is on the patient, not on the doctor,” he said at a press conference after the opening ceremony of the Borneo Cardiology Conference 2026 held at Pullman Hotel here today. An audio recording of the press conference was later shared with DayakDaily.
He added that manpower shortages in the public sector are further compounded by increasing competition from the private healthcare industry, with more than 1,000 private hospital beds expected to come online in Sarawak.
“Private hospitals will keep pulling specialists out. That is why retention is a challenge. If a doctor trains for three years, the first year they learn, the second year they work properly, and the third year they start thinking about leaving,” he pointed out.
Sarawak needs 50 cardiologists based on national ratio
Senior Cardiology Specialist at Sarawak Heart Centre Dr Alan Fong said Malaysia currently has about 420 cardiologists nationwide, with about 200 serving in the Klang Valley, which caters to around 10 million people.
“In Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, there are about 200 cardiologists for that population,” he said.
He said based on Sarawak’s population of about 2.5 million, the State should ideally have around 50 cardiologists.
“At the moment, Sarawak has about 20 cardiologists. Half are in government service and half in the private sector,” he said.
When asked whether this means Sarawak needs at least 30 more specialists, he replied: “We need many more.”
Only one heart centre in Sarawak; expansion planned to Sibu, Miri, Bintulu
Dr Alan said the gap is further strained by geography and limited facilities, noting that Sarawak currently has only one cardiac centre in Kuching, compared to eight in Peninsular Malaysia.
“Sarawak is almost the same size as Peninsular Malaysia, but there is only one heart centre here,” he said.
He said plans are underway to establish satellite heart centres in Sibu, Miri and Bintulu, with Bintulu already in the early stages of development.
He added that from August 3, a new batch of cardiology trainees will begin training to prepare for deployment once the satellite centres are ready.
“The idea is that when the centres are ready, the specialists will already be trained and can be deployed immediately,” he said.
Dr Alan also noted that relying on medical evacuation alone is not always safe or practical due to distance, weather conditions and flight risks, particularly for heart attack cases.
Sarawak produces cardiologists for Malaysia
Chief Cardiology Specialist at Sarawak Heart Centre Dr Ong Tiong Kiam said Sarawak has also made significant contributions to Malaysia’s overall cardiac workforce.
He said about 10 per cent of Malaysia’s 420 registered cardiologists were trained in Sarawak.
“Out of about 420 cardiologists in the National Specialists Registry, around 10 per cent were trained by us,” he said.
Dr Ong said many of these specialists now serve in leadership roles across Malaysia, including in Sabah and Perak.
Among them are Dr Liew Houng Bang, who now heads government cardiac services in Sabah, and Dr Nor Hanim Mohd Amin, Chief of Cardiology at Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun (HRPB) Ipoh, Perak.
“They were both trained here and are now leading cardiac services in their respective states,” he said.
He added that Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) is also developing its own teaching hospital, where all four planned cardiologists have been trained under Sarawak’s system.
“This shows our training benefits not only Sarawak, but also Sabah, Perak and other parts of Malaysia,” he said. — DayakDaily
