A PARTNERSHIP between government and private hospitals should be the way to go in improving the healthcare system, said Sunway Group Healthcare Services managing director Lau Beng Long.

Public and private hospitals could share available beds, medical technology and talent which will benefit patients in general, he said.

“I think this sharing of resources can benefit the Malaysian healthcare system,” Lau told a press conference at Sunway Hotel in Seberang Jaya, Penang, today.

He pointed out that government hospitals were running short of beds because the current economic situation has led to a “slight swing” of patients going to public clinics and hospitals, while some private hospitals had surplus beds.

There should be a scheme in place, he said, so patients who could not be served in the public sector could be treated at private hospitals, but at pre-negotiated rates.

“There are also many latest innovations in medical technology that some public hospitals lack due to budget constraints, but which private hospitals have and are under-utilised.

“This is where collaboration (between private and public hospitals) can come in. Public hospital should look at sending some patients to private hospitals at pre-negotiated rates.

“Private hospitals generally charge more due to the development cost of the facilities.

“The government will have to come up with a fair figure to compensate private hospitals for taking on public cases. It should be, at least, subsidised a bit.”

Earlier, Lau said the government knew well that healthcare costs have risen in the public sector, leading the previous administration to introduce the RM50 million Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS), which was announced in the tabling of Budget 2018.

“The government has always been looking at a national healthcare financing system. The VHIS was meant for that, and once it is up, the people could choose between public and private hospitals.”

Lau was speaking to the media after the ground-breaking ceremony for Sunway Group’s new RM400 million 350-bed medical centre in Seberang Jaya.

The facility, which is part of Sunway Group’s RM1 billion healthcare expansion plans, will also be a teaching and research hospital.

It will have over 600 healthcare and hospitality professionals and six operating theatres with state-of-the-art monitoring and treatment systems that can handle major heart, lung and brain operations.

The centre’s core specialities will include neurology and neurosurgery, clinical and medical oncology, orthopaedic, cardiac and vascular cases. These services will use the latest medical innovations and equipment.

The centre in Sunway City Seberang Jaya, which neighbours Sunway Hotel and Sunway Carnival Mall (which is also being expanded), is expected to be ready by the fourth quarter of 2020.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who attended the ground-breaking ceremony, said the willingness of various parties to invest in Seberang Prai reflects how the mainland part of the state would be Penang’s future.

He said investments in the industries and services sector would spur local growth. – September 7, 2018.