Bera Hospital to be equipped with operating theatre - Khairy

BERA: An operating theatre (OT) with an estimated cost of RM9 million will be built at the Bera Hospital to complement existing facilities, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

Khairy said the operating room will act as a support facility for OT services at Temerloh's Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital, which he added has reached an optimum level, in turn, easing the hospital's burden.

"Bera Hospital has a capacity of 40 beds and can be expanded further to accommodate 60 beds in the future.

"In addition, the hospital will also provide out-patient and in-patient care, diagnostic and treatment, medical support services, and non-medical support services," he said in his speech at the official opening of the hospital here today.

Khairy said the Bera Hospital, approved under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), began operations on July 1 with the opening of the 24-hour Emergency and Trauma Unit and Patient Assessment Centre.

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The inpatient unit involving the maternity ward and the children's ward began operating on Aug 2 while adult wards, specialist clinics and other services will start operating from Oct 1.

Khairy said the Bera Hospital is a non-specialist district hospital placed under the Central Pahang Cluster Hospital Programme alongside Jengka Hospital, Jerantut Hospital and Bentong Hospital, with the Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Hospital in Temerloh acting as the lead cluster hospital.

"Through this cluster, specialised services such as emergency and trauma, obstetrics and gynaecology, general medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics and rehabilitation will be available at Bera Hospital through the 'visiting specialist' concept from next month," he said.

Bera Hospital was also selected as proof of concept (pilot project) facility for a number of collaborative technologies and concepts, including robotic technology in food delivery services and laboratory samples, and the implementation of the 'Patient's Bed Watchers and Management System' through digital and centralised patient monitoring.

In addition, it also involves a pilot project to upgrade the wireless network to facilitate treatment and provide internet access to patients and visitors, as well as a collaborative effort between the Health Ministry (MoH) and the National Welfare Foundation under the Ministry of Women, Family Development and the Community to upgrade visitor lounge facilities.

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Khairy said to ensure a wider range of health services in Bera, the MoH will provide outpatient dental outsourcing services for Bera residents in the Bukit Mendi, Kemayan and Tembangau areas in the near future, involving service costs of about RM1 million.

He said the public-private partnership will benefit some 31,000 residents in the three areas who want basic dental treatment such as flouride varnishing, scaling, fillings, extractions and even dentures.

Separately, Khairy said two more health facilities are expected to be completed in Pahang this year, namely the health clinic and quarters in Raub, expected to be completed early next month and the hemodialysis building upgrade at Raub Hospital, up for completion in early November.

Khairy said the health clinic and quarters in Kampung Temai, Pekan and the one in Kampung Chegar 6 Perah, Lipis began operations on July 1 and July 15 respectively.

-- BERNAMA