QEH, SABAH'S REFERRAL HOSPITAL

DONOR.....Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Shirlin accompanied by FCAS Women Bureau Chief Datuk Agnes Shim (right) and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Director Dr. Heric Corray (left) visiting a donor at the blood donation drive during the Health Awareness Campaign at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

By : FIZAH YUSOF

QUEEN Elizabeth Hospital is the main referral hospital for all the hospitals in Sabah, including those in Labuan and nearby Lawas in Sarawak. As a referral hospital, it provides a variety of specialist services.

Deputy Health Minister, Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said despite the massive move from HQEI to the Sabah Medical Centre building now known as HQEII, the services suffered only minimal disruptions.

“The hospital staff always strive to provide the best service,” she said at the open day of the health awareness campaign at the QEHI's Post-Graduate Medical Centre (PGMC) hall yesterday.

Rosnah said delivering quality health and medical services to the people is a commitment that the government tries its best to fulfil.

"I believe quality is one target that always evolves, and there is still room for us to improve especially in the soft skills aspect which is our priority when handling our patients,” she said.

She disclosed that the Health Ministry spent RM 3.46 million for medical and non-medical equipment for this year to ensure that the services provided meet the needs of the people.

She said as of now, only 281 beds are being used at HQE, much fewer than the 589 beds that it officially has. However, she revealed that; with the completion of its twin tower block the Health Ministry will provide another 661 beds.

Rosnah added that QEH provides sub-specialist services in multiple medical disciplines such as Gastroenterology, Nephrology, Infectious Diseases, Rheumatology, Hematology, and Geriatrics, as well as General Surgery and other services.

PROSTHETIC.... Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Shirlin accompanied by FCAS Women Bureau Chief Datuk Agnes Shim (second right) and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Director Dr. Heric Corray (left) looking at the some prosthetic arms in one of the exhibition booths at the HQE open day and health awareness campaign.

She also said apart from giving medical treatment, the hospital also includes human capital development as it trains medical students both undergraduates and postgraduates in association with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Univeriti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

She said the open day and health awareness campaign offers a good opportunity for the public to discover what specialist services are available in the hospital.

“The public should take this opportunity to make use of the facilities offered by the government," she said.

The QEHI Director, Dr. Heric Corray told the gathering that next year three of its sub-specialist surgery services, which are breast and endocrine surgery, vascular surgery and hepatobiliary surgery will be fully operational.

“At this moment we have specialists coming from Peninsular Malaysia on a monthly basis,” he said.  (Insight Sabah)