THREE of four operating theatres at the Serdang Heart Centre (PJS) in Selangor will be operational for both elective and emergency surgeries next month (June).

This was confirmed by Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad through a brief post on the social media platform X today.

“In the meantime, angiogram services at PJS and emergency treatment for patients will continue as normal at the facilities at Hospital Sultan Idris Shah (Serdang Hospital),” he said in the post.

The Serdang Heart Centre which opened in December 2022 and was designed to reduce dependency on Kuala Lumpur’s National Heart Institute, was reportedly plagued with problems.

Earlier reports said four operation theatres at the new heart centre were not functioning due to issues like faulty air conditioning.

Following this, a meeting involving the PJS contractor and the Ministry of Health as well as Works Ministry was held recently where the contractor assured that all damages and defects in the health facility would be repaired by June.

In October 2022, then-health minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the centre would shorten the waiting period from 18 months to just nine months for stable elective cases while emergency cases could be treated immediately.

The healthcare facility is equipped with a hybrid operating theatre – the first of its kind under the Health Ministry – and would benefit up to 250 cardiac patients per year.

Equipped with sophisticated equipment, the centre also enables complex cases to be carried out there, he said.

It has a coronary care unit, a paediatric intensive cardiothoracic care unit, an intensive care unit, an intensive cardiothoracic care unit and a cardiac emergency department among others. – May 25, 2024.