Malaysian Chinese Association

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Johor Health Department has received approval from the Public Service Department for 1,800 positions at the new Hospital Pasir Gudang.

Recruitment is underway, said state health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon.

He said the hospital was scheduled to begin operation in phases between February and March next year.

“The hospital will provide 304 beds, benefiting residents in Pasir Gudang and Seri Alam,” he said, adding that it is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

It aims to alleviate some of the burden on Hospital Sultan Ismail (HSI), he told reporters yesterday.

As for Hospital Sultanah Aminah (HSA) in Johor Baru, he said the development of HSA 2 was expected to ease the congestion at the hospital.

“The HSA, as a state hospital, handles referral cases from district hospitals,” he said.

At present, he said HSA is utilising cardiology wards at HSI due to capacity constraints.

“HSA faces daily overcrowding, with bed occupancy consistently at 100%, resulting in longer waiting times for patients,” he said.

He said HSA has 1,203 beds but 170 of them are currently out of service due to an ongoing upgrading project at the main building.

Ling explained that the HSA 2 project would proceed under a public-private partnership model, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his Budget 2025 speech.

“Preliminary works announced last year has been completed. The Health Ministry and Finance Ministry will collaborate with private entities to expedite the construction.

“This is faster than relying solely on government funding.

“We expect that in 2025, discussions with stakeholders will begin, followed by the design phases. Construction is expected to start in 2026,” he said.

He said that HSA 2, which is located near Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, in Skudai, will have a 1,500-bed capacity, making it the largest hospital in the state.

The project will be built on 28.33ha of land provided by the Defence Ministry.

-The STAR-