By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 26: The Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak has suggested that the Sarawak government build State-owned private hospitals with public hospital rates for Sarawakians as a way to deliver better healthcare services.
Speaking during the DAP Sarawak Annual Convention 2025 held in Bintulu today, party president Chong Chieng Jen said that it was similar to the party’s suggestion about State-owned private schools with English as the medium of instruction.
“Though some SUPP (Sarawak United Peoples’ Party) leaders laughed off the idea at that time, we have a few such schools now being built by the State government,” said Chong, who is also Padungan assemblyman and Stampin MP.
On Oct 7, it was reported that out of the 542 medical officers allocated to Sarawak by the Ministry of Health (MoH), 293—or 54 per cent— failed to report for duty on Oct 1, leaving more than half of the offered posts unfilled and compounding existing staffing pressures at the State’s major hospitals.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian revealed that Sarawak had actually requested 650 new doctors as there are still 1,100 vacancies, but the number received was far below what was needed.
He said that Sarawak still faces a shortage of about 2,500 doctors to meet the State’s actual healthcare needs based on the national doctor-to-population ratio. — DayakDaily
