THE Health Ministry (MOH) will set up a field hospital at the Penang Hospital (HPP) parking lot, to accommodate the increasing number of COVID-19 patients in the state.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said MOH and Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) teams had visited the site, and its construction was expected to take a week.

He added that the field hospital will provide more than 100 beds for patients who need oxygen assistance, and he will make further announcements on the start date of the construction work of the field hospital in the near future.

“The construction of the field hospital will take a week and it will begin as soon as possible, complete with the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward and other necessities to treat patients,” he told reporters after visiting the HPP and the field hospital site today.

Also present were Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, deputy director-general of health (public health) Dr Chong Chee Kheong, deputy director-general of health (medical) Dr Asmayani Khalib and state health director Dr Ma’arof Sudin.

Apart from that, Khairy said he would discuss with private hospitals in Penang to rent out their operating theatres to enable surgeons at HPP to perform surgeries for high-risk and critical cases.

He said there are critical surgical procedures at HPP that need to be performed immediately, as several operating theatres at the hospital have been converted to treat Covid-19 patients, causing the capacity to perform surgery to be limited.

“Doctors and surgeons at HPP are willing to perform surgery in operating rooms at private hospitals, so I will consult with them (private hospitals in Penang) as soon as possible. If they do not want to perform surgery (high risk), we will rent operating theatres so that immediate (surgery) on critical cases can be performed,” he said. – Bernama, September 11, 2021.