Thomson has been lending its support by testing suspected COVID-19 patients
or those suspected of being infected with COVID-19, by
using a medical tent set up outside the hospital. Once a
suspected case is identified, the patient will be sent to a
government hospital for treatment.
“Sunway Healthcare has been working closely with
the public sector to contain the outbreak. We set up a
COVID-19 task force as early as January, comprising
infectious disease specialists, experts in emergency
medicine, and a back-end support team to better
cope with the outbreak,” said Lau.
Another Kuala Lumpur facility, Thomson Hospital,
has also been lending its support by testing suspected
COVID-19 patients and treating those who need
emergency and other care, especially cancer surgery.
Thomson is one of a number of private hospitals
that have so far loaned 61 ventilators to the Ministry of
Health. It’s also playing a part in widening COVID-19
screening by offering a drive-through swab service
that’s so far tested more than 1,500 people, with a
detection rate of about two to three percent.
“Private hospitals are playing several important
roles in this outbreak,” said Nadiah Wan, Thomson’s
chief executive.
She believes the Ministry of Health has done an
“outstanding job in preparing for the outbreak,” having
identified hospitals in each state to admit patients with
COVID-19 and starting a process of decanting patients
without the virus from their wards early on.
This process has enabled officials to not only
concentrate the care of patients with COVID-19 in just
a few hospitals, but also to centralise equipment and
people and reinforce infection control protocols.
“I think it’s of particular pride in the ministry that,
to date, none of the healthcare workers involved in the
care of COVID-19 patients have been infected. The
infections there have come from non-work-related
sources,” said Wan.
Part of the reason for this success is that the
GlobalHealthAndTravel.com
Nadiah Wan, CEO of Thomson Hospital
Kota Damansara
government early on cancelled all non-essential
services, such as elective procedures, in public
hospitals. All resources from other departments,
including surgery, were mobilised to medical
departments to help manage patients with COVID-19.
These range from house officers to clinical instructors.
The ministry is now on the hunt for more facilities
to house patients who are asymptomatic, or who have
less severe symptoms. So far, an exhibition centre has
been converted to house 600 additional beds, while
health institutes across the country are on standby to
offer their capacity.
Lau says the fast-evolving and widespread infection
has also affected the way both private and public
hospitals operate.
“To me, the pandemic presents unprecedented
challenges to healthcare systems around the world.
This is by far the toughest public health challenge
we’ve experienced,” he said. “We’ve had SARS, the
H1N1 pandemic, and other outbreaks, but none of
these have had such a far-reaching impact on the
economic and social structure of the country, as much
as the clinical practices and norms.”
He believes Malaysia has done well in managing the
outbreak so far, though the virus still has some way to
run its course. Healthcare systems around the world
are still grappling with the best way to handle the
pandemic, and Malaysia healthcare is no exception.
All of this calls for deeper cooperation and the
sharing of best practices among the affected nations.
“Even though we’ve had other outbreaks in the
past, we haven’t had an outbreak with such a high
transmission rate at the community level, and we’re
still learning new things about the virus on a daily
basis. Despite the uncertainties and challenges we
face, patients’ safety and maintaining continuity
of care for our patients, have always been our top
priority,” he said.
Part of the
reason for this
success is that
the government
early on
cancelled all
non-essential
services, such
as elective
procedures, in
public hospitals
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