Kuala lumpur: The Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) is set to deploy resident specialists in several hospitals across Sabah, including facilities in Kota Marudu and Beaufort, to mitigate the shortage of specialists in the region. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Dzulkefly Ahmad announced this initiative as part of a broader strategy to bring specialist expertise to rural areas in Sabah.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Dr. Dzulkefly emphasized that the MOH aims to bridge the expertise gap in Sabah within three to five years. This will be achieved by empowering the Sandakan and Tawau Clusters to match the level of services found in Kota Kinabalu, with specific focus on cardiothoracic care. The minister highlighted that Sabahans graduating from the MOH Training Institute are now being permanently absorbed into the workforce, benefiting from a 15% SSPA salary adjustment and other allowances.

Additionally, immediate upgrades to staff quarters in Lahad Datu, Beaufort, and Kota Marudu are planned through strategic collaborations between federal and state governments. The MOH has also expanded the Hospital Services Outsourcing Programme, involving the private sector to alleviate congestion in public hospitals by covering 15 critical services such as dialysis treatments and diagnostic scans.

Dr. Dzulkefly noted that these measures will be optimized through collaboration with Hospital Universiti Malaysia Sabah (HUMS) to maximize medical capacity utilization within the state. Furthermore, he announced the implementation of 53 health development projects valued at RM1.56 billion under the 13th Malaysia Plan, alongside RM75.5 million allocated for repairing 132 dilapidated clinics and an investment of RM1 billion in Electronic Medical Records (EMR).

The minister concluded that the primary digital integration target has been moved up to the first quarter of 2027 from the previous goal of 2045, aligning with the vision of 'One Individual, One Record' by 2030.