KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — The Health Ministry today clarified that it decided to close the Mawar Medical Centre (MMC), a dialysis centre in Seremban, to protect patients after its management said it could not continue to run the centre.
In a statement today, its minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the centre had informed the ministry in February that it could not pay the salaries of its employees and that the lack of manpower would mean the dialysis patients would not be able to receive proper treatment.
He said the centre had applied to the ministry to have the patients transferred to other haemodialysis centres.
“The wellbeing of the patients cannot be taken lightly and handled carelessly. We do not want there to be an incident where patients would visit the centre only to find that it cannot operate and at the same time, the centre is not able to care for their wellbeing.
“The ministry had no other choice but to act swiftly for the sake of the patients’ wellbeing,” he said.
Dr Dzulkefly said the ministry had received a letter from MMC chairman Datin Chua Lay Ping on February 11, which had explained the problems faced by the centre, leading to the mass resignation of its specialists.
He had also denied claims that the ministry had not allowed the staff to bring back their personal belongings and that they were instructed to not come to work on February 15.
On Thursday, the ministry had ordered MMC to cease operations as it was found to have failed to comply with legal requirements.
The medical centre’s license was revoked last December 14, and it was found to have also failed to comply with the directives of the Director General of Health to ensure that all dialysis patients received further treatment at private hospitals or other licensed private haemodialysis centres.
