PUTRAJAYA has spent almost RM37 million since last year to outsource non-Covid-19 patients from public hospitals to private institutions so that their care and treatment can continue without disruption, said Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.

He said the ministry had not neglected the treatment of non-Covid-19 patients despite the country’s health resources coming under immense pressure due to the upsurge in Covid-19 cases.

He told The Malaysian Insight that RM36.9 million has been allocated since 2020 to 35 hospitals under the Health Ministry (MOH) for the purpose of outsourcing 14,708 medical procedures to 53 private hospitals.

“Although the surge in Covid-19 cases has increased the pressure on the treatment provided at public hospitals, nevertheless non-Covid-19 patients has never been neglected,” he said.

“While the MOH’s hospitals are preparing to handle the exponential surge in Covid-19 cases, the needs of non-Covid-19 patients have also been taken into account.”

There are 146 public hospitals of which eight are fully-fledged Covid-19 hospitals and 68 are hybrid hospitals that accept both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients.

Adham said the ministry was also outsourcing medical services for acute, sub-acute cases under several disciplines and treatment for accident cases.

“The purpose of the outsourcing initiative is to ensure that non-Covid-19 patients receive immediate medical attention,” he said.

“This also helps to prevent complications and reduce morbidity and mortality.”

Private hospitals have been enlisted to take in Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 cases to ease the burden on public hospitals.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah recently told directors of government hospitals to prepare for an upsurge in Covid-19 cases.

These include suspending all surgeries and elective procedures to free up beds, mobilising human resources for Covid-19 care, increasing bed allocation at hybrid hospitals from 21% to 50%, mobilising clinical and non-clinical staff within the hospital, and placing asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients under home surveillance.

Malaysia’s daily Covid-19 cases have been trending between 3,000 and 4,000 cases over the last few weeks. Active cases have been on the rise since April 6, and ICU cases have remained over 400 since May 9. 

The number of active cases as of yesterday was 41,582 while the number of cases in the ICU was 481.

The country recorded another 4,855 cases yesterday with another 27 deaths. This brings the cumulative number of cases to 458, 077 and the total number of fatalities to 1,788. – May 14, 2021.