Malaysia Building New Hub for Medical Tourism

Posted by surgery on November 22, 2009 under Malaysia | Read the First Comment

A new public hospital is being built and a new wellness centre is in the planning stages in the city of Nusajaya in Malaysia’s state of Johor Baru. The design is to have the state become a medical hub, both for local people as well as for medical tourists from around the world.

Said Mentri Besar Dator Abdul Othman, “It will complement existing medical services in the state. The setting up of the hospital is still in the planning stage.” He was speaking to reporters November 21, 2002 at the launch of the Regency Specialist Hospital.

The Malaysia Star newspaper reported that the additional facilities could boost the state’s medical tourism and meet the needs of both local and foreign patients.

Johor’s strategic location and comparable costs for healthcare could draw more foreign patients, especially from Singapore and Indonesia.

“Judging from the growth in the number of foreign patients in the state, Johor is set to be a medical hub in the near future,” Abdul Ghani said.

On the lack of specialists in local hospitals, Abdul Ghani added that this was a longstanding problem in the state and the country.

“We have the facilities but we need to increase the number of medical experts,” he said.

He added that in order to handle the problem for now, specialists were brought in from private institutions.