VISIT TO KEK LOK SI CHARITABLE HOSPITAL

SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW

FOR THE VISIT TO KEK LOK SI CHARITABLE HOSPITAL

23 April 2021

YB Yeoh Soon Hin

State Exco for Tourism & Creative Economy

YB Wong Hon Wai  

Member of Parliament for Bukit Bendera

YB Joseph Ng

State Assemblyman for Air Itam

Venerable Seck Jit Heng

The Hospital Board Chairman

Dato’ Seri Steven Ooi  

Board Member

Dato’ Dr Teng Hock Nan

Board Member & Medical Superintendent

 

Dato' Hwang Thean Long & Mr. Khoo Boo Leong

Governance & Welfare Committee Members

Mr. Lai Yeu Kong

Chief Operating Officer

Matron Ms. Cheah Lew Kin

Members of the media 

Good afternoon to all of you.

I wish to thank the Kek Lok Si Charitable Hospital management committee for inviting me to visit this new hospital before it opens to the public very soon.

My utmost respect and salute to all in the healthcare industry for your selfless services and contributions to the sick and needy in this challenging COVID-19 pandemic period.

Setting up and running a hospital is definitely not an easy task, especially one which is a non-profit charitable hospital. It takes a well-concerted effort to plan together with a strong commitment to implement short and long-term strategies to keep the hospital self-sustaining to meet demands. For this, I must congratulate all of you for the hard work that have been done to realize this very ambitious yet meaningful project.  

Ladies & gentlemen,

I am happy to note that the 50-bed KLS Charitable Hospital is a specialist hospital with 7 resident consultants 专科医生, 2 medical officers普通科医生 , 2 sessional consultants 附属专科医生and 1 visiting consultant 客座专科医生. It is also equipped with the state-of-the-art medical facilities and devices. The 130 staff members are all ready to serve once the approval from the Cawangan Kawalan Amalan Perubatan Swasta (CKAPS) of the Penang State Health Department is obtained.

I am also happy to learn that this hospital is open to all Malaysians regardless of race and religion. The charges will also be lower than other non-profitable hospitals. Patients who are unable to pay the full amount of his or her bill can apply for the subsidy from the Yayasan Kek Lok Si (极乐寺基金会).

And because this is a charitable hospital, catering mainly to needy locals, it will be adhering to certain medical ethics and professionalism such as not opening its doors to medical tourists. The only exception is when there is an emergency to admit a foreigner and once his or her condition is stable, the foreign patient will be transferred to other hospitals.

Ladies & gentlemen,

This Kek Lok Si Charitable Hospital operates largely on donations. It has plans to expand further in meeting rising demands in the future and the major challenge is for the management to procure sufficient financial backing to meet operation costs as well as daily expenses. This hospital is also one of the first private hospitals that does not charge Nursing Procedure Fees for its in-patients.

Hence, the state government understands the sense of urgency to have sufficient funds for the viability of this charitable hospital. Having this in mind, I would like to announce an allocation of RM200,000 to Yayasan Kek Lok Si.

I also urge all NGOs and Corporations, the Penang Chinese Town Hall, the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce, FMM and MNCs to come forward to support this meaningful venture by the KLS Charitable Hospital. No one in Penang, should be denied proper medical attention due to his or her station in life.

Together, we can make this happen and allow deserving Penangites the medical attention they deserve. Lastly, my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has, in one way or another, contributed to the success of this compassionate hospital project.

Thank you.