PUBLIC hospitals have moved more than 1,592 non-Covid-19 patients to various private hospitals in the Klang Valley since August 10, which has freed up space in public health facilities to treat Covid-19 patients, Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh said.

According to Kuljit, the move has proven to be successful as the recent reports have shown a decrease in the number of patients waiting at the government hospital emergency departments to be admitted into a Covid-19 ward, he said in a statement.

“This effort to increase space in public hospital wards is together with the internal moves within public hospitals and increased vaccination within Klang Valley,” he said.

Kuljit said the Health Ministry and the APHM had worked on the entire process, having agreed costs to the ministry, adding that private hospitals have also given additional discounts as a “service to the nation”.

He said the focus has now shifted to Johor where all major private hospitals in Johor Baru and Iskandar Puteri are prepared to receive patients from public hospitals with the increasing numbers of Covid-19 patients in that state.

Kuljit said private hospitals in the Klang Valley are beginning to see fewer Covid-19 patients but the number of those on respiratory support in intensive care units (ICU) is still high.

“The prospect of admitting more Covid-19 Category 4 and 5 patients is still a challenge in most private hospitals because many of the patients are not recovering quickly enough, given the limited number of ICUs,” he said.

However, he said, based on the number of Covid-19 patients in private hospitals, it is evident that the vaccination programme has started working.

“We hope more people will get vaccinated in the next few months including those outside Klang Valley,” he said.

“However, all private hospitals will stay vigilant as the possibility of variants are still to be watched closely,” he added.

Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said last month that the Health Ministry has allocated RM39 million to fund moving patients from government hospitals to private care for 2021.

This is more than three times the RM11 million allocated for the same purpose last year. – August 16, 2021.