Penang Kek Lok Si Medical Centre ready to open next month

GEORGE TOWN, April 15 -- Penang’s first Buddhist non-profit hospital, Kek Lok Si Charitable Medical Centre (KLSCMC) is expected to begin operation in May.

Its board member cum medical superintendent Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan today said KLSCMC is now in its final phase before opening after recently receiving the hospital’s Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) from the state government.

He said the last stage involved an inspection by the Ministry of Health’s private medical practice control section before issuing the private hospital operating licence.

“Once we get the licence, our hospital will begin its operation,” he told a press conference here.

According to him, the five-storey specialist hospital, which occupies less than an acre of land, will have 50 beds, as well as modern medical facilities and services such as X-ray, ultrasound, CT-scan, modular critical care unit and a haemodialysis centre.

He also said that the KLSCMC also has 130 trained medical staff, including specialists for internal medicine, orthopaedic, anaesthesiology and radiology.

“We hope to expand our hospital to have a total of 200 beds in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, Teng also said that the non-profit charitable hospital would not practise or advertised for medical tourism.

He explained that their medical treatment cost, which is one of the lowest among non-profit hospitals in Malaysia, would only benefit citizens holding the Malaysia ID card.

“In an emergency, we can only help to stabilise a foreigner before transferring the patient to other hospitals,” he added.

-- BERNAMA