By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, July 7: The new Tabuan Jaya Health Clinic is scheduled to start operations on July 20, says Minister for Public Health, Housing, and Local Government Sarawak Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.
On a Facebook post, he said this will follow the handover of the project from the Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR) to the Sarawak Health Department, which is expected to take place on Thursday (July 9).
“This Type 2 clinic, which costs RM24 million, is expected to cater to 800 to 1,000 patients not just from the Tabuan Jaya area but also from the Samarahan—up to Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas)—and Stutong areas,” he said.
The Deputy Premier added that the project was part of the Health Ministry’s (MOH) 10th Malaysia Plan (2010-2015) under Rolling Plan(RP) 1, in which the project was awarded to a contractor in December 2021 after three tenders.
“It was supposed to be completed in June 2024, but an extension of time (EOT) was required for additional requirements by the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba),” he said.
He added that the facility is the second Type 2 health clinic in Sarawak after the one in Petra Jaya, but the Tabuan Jaya clinic differs from it as it was designed and built based on the ministry’s pre-approved standard plan.
The clinic is located at Lot 19351, Block 11 at the Muara Tebas Land District. Among the services and facilities it will provide are outpatient and emergency, maternal and child health, dental, a pharmacy, radiology, a laboratory, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and other supportive services such as psychology, nutrition, and dietetics.
The clinic will be manned by 179 personnel, and he hoped that the federal government will post enough personnel to optimise the facilities.
However, he also noted that the new Tabuan Jaya health clinic will face parking challenges. This is because the MOH’s pre-approved Type 2 health clinic can only accommodate about 100 public parking spaces despite the facility being expected to serve up to 1,000 patients a day and employ 179 staff.
Meanwhile, Dr Sim said Sarawak currently has 4,275 hospital beds but requires an additional 1,925 beds to meet demand, adding that the State has 4,614 doctors and needs another 2,649, while an estimated RM17 billion is required to address dilapidated hospitals and health clinics Statewide. — DayakDaily
