KUCHING, March 27 — Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah today said that the state government will rope in private hospitals to treat non-Covid-19 patients in the event that government hospitals run out of space to treat other patients.
He said the state government is making the arrangement should the number of persons test positive for Covid-19 increases to the extent where government hospitals are unable to cope.
“We are actually preparing for the worst. We have four government hospitals — Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), Sibu Hospital, Bintulu Hospital and Miri Hospital — dedicated to Covid-19 patients.
“You never know what will happen ... if we look at some other countries, the requirements to treat Covid-19 patients can be substantial,” he told reporters.
“What we are preparing for is that since SGH in Kuching is a Covid-19 hospital, and if there are still spaces available for non-Covid-19 patients, then they will remain there.
“But if there is a need for more spaces with SGH for Covid-19 patients, then non-Covid-19 patients may need to be placed in other government hospitals, so we have decided to place them in Serian, Bau and Heart Centre hospitals.
“But if these three hospitals are insufficient, then we will rope in private hospitals. We have discussed with the private hospitals for them to make spaces available for non-Covid-19 patients.
“In this way, we will ensure that non-Covid-19 patients are given the best service as possible,” he said.
He said Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian is making the arrangement with the private hospitals.
“It is not just the arrangement to move the non-Covid-19 patients, but there are also the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be complied with by the private hospitals,” he said.
He said discussions will be finalised to resolve the payment of medical bills to be incurred in treating the non-Covid-19 patients between the private hospitals and the state government.
Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee chairman, said the state recorded 15 new positive Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases to 110 since the first positive case was reported on March 13.
He said the 15 have been admitted to SGH for treatment.
He added that 27 new cases of Persons Under Investigation (PUI) have been recorded, bringing the total to 983 cases since January.
He said 841 cases tested negative while 32 cases are still waiting for laboratory results.
To date, Sarawak has recorded five deaths since the first fatal case was reported on March 17.
Uggah also informed Sarawakians that the state border with Brunei will only be open from 6am to 6pm effective tomorrow.
