By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, April 11: Deputy Premier of Sarawak Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian has revealed that he will bring up the issue of Limbang Hospital’s faulty colonoscopy service in an upcoming meeting with the Federal Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad next week.
Dr Sim said the matter was highlighted to him by local medical staff during the Colorectal Cancer Awareness Campaign 2025 at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) today, where they informed him that the colonoscopy equipment in Limbang is currently not working.
“Next week I happen to have a meeting with the Minister of Health on our cancer hospital. Finally, the first technical committee will meet, together with the Health Minister and the Minister of Works (JKR), because the cancer hospital is being built by JKR Malaysia.
“So it will be an opportunity for me to bring up (the Limbang Hospital issue),” he said. A recording of his remarks to the media was made available to DayakDaily after the event.
The meeting is expected to cover key issues in Sarawak’s healthcare landscape, including the State’s ongoing request for the devolution of power from the Federal Ministry of Health to the Sarawak government through the State Health Department (Jabatan Kesihatan Negeri Sarawak).
Dr Sim reiterated that Sarawak’s push to manage its own healthcare facilities stems from the need for faster response to local needs and greater autonomy in decision-making.
“Over the past three years, I have dealt with three different Health Ministers. Each time there is a new minister, I have to repeat myself,” he said, referencing former Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s recent remarks on the Keluar Sekejap podcast supporting Sarawak’s calls for healthcare decentralisation.
He also touched on the formation of the Sarawak Medical Committee under the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC), an important step in laying the groundwork for Sarawak to have authority over doctor recognition and registration.
“You can’t take over a hospital if you don’t even have the power to register doctors,” he said.
Dr Sim pointed out that Sarawak continues to suffer from a shortage of around 2,000 doctors.
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), he noted, only produces about 150 graduates a year, and not all are Sarawakians.
He also plans to follow up on the case of 861 Sarawakian nurses and medical assistants currently serving in Peninsular Malaysia who have expressed interest in returning home.
The matter had previously been raised with the Minister of Health and Deputy Minister Datuk Lukanisman Awang Sauni, and a task force led by Lukanisman was later set up to address the request.
Dr Sim cautioned that any repatriation effort must be balanced with maintaining adequate staffing levels in West Malaysian hospitals, especially considering that about half of SGH’s 5,000-strong staff are from West Malaysia.
“If they all went home overnight, how would we continue to function?” he said.
“We fight for more doctors, more nurses, and better funding because it’s about fighting for the patients. But we must also work through stages. We all want SGH to be like a private hospital—but let’s be realistic. We are still short of 2,000 doctors and 2,000 beds.” – DayakDaily
