SANDAKAN: Sandakan MP Vivian Wong Shir Yee urged the Ministry of Health (MoH) to accelerate the project assessment and budget approval process to ensure the previously announced upgrades for Duchess of Kent Hospital (HDOK) Sandakan result in significant improvements in the near future.
While welcoming the Government’s previous announcements regarding allocations to upgrade government hospitals and rural health clinics across Sabah, she expressed concern over bureaucratic delays.
“The assessment and approval processes for upgrade projects carried out by government agencies often take far too long.
“Consequently, the public is yet to experience any of the promised enhancements to healthcare facilities,” she said during a debate session at the Dewan Rakyat in Kuala Lumpur.
Citing the HDOK upgrade and several other projects, she noted that although they had been announced or approved in principle, implementation still passes through various stages of evaluation.
This process can take years to finalise, failing to provide immediate relief to the needs of the people in the district.
Furthermore, Vivian said HDOK has long grappled with a shortage of medical equipment and specialist staff.
“This is compounded by mental health services that remain extremely limited and insufficient to meet the needs of the local community.”
She also pointed out that government health clinics in densely populated areas of Sabah continue to face overwhelming patient numbers, frequently leading to overcrowding and long waiting times.
In light of this, she urged MoH to give a clear and transparent explanation regarding the direction and utilisation of Federal Government allocations specifically channelled for upgrading healthcare facilities in the East Coast of Sabah.
