Kek Lok Si medical centre to open in May

Kek Lok Si medical centre to open in May

KLSCMC to have 130 trained medical staff, including specialists, and 50 beds for a start.

Kek Lok Si, which welcomes thousands of tourists to the Pagoda and the Kuan Yin statue, will soon also welcome patients who are poor.
GEORGE TOWN:
Kek Lok Si in Penang is famous for its Buddhist temple, the Pagoda and the tall statue of Kuan Yin. In May, it will also be home to the first Buddhist non-profit hospital, the Kek Lok Si Charitable Medical Centre (KLSCMC).

Its board member cum medical superintendent 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 from the state government.

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

“Once we get the licence, our hospital will begin operations,” 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 the KLSCMC has 130 trained medical staff, including specialists for internal medicine, orthopaedics, 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 advertise for medical tourism.

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

“As for foreigners, we can only help stabilise them in the case of an emergency before transferring the patient to other hospitals,” he added.

Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.