KUCHING: New parking spaces will be added to Bau Hospital’s grounds to increase the parking capacity in the area.
Tasik Biru Assemblyman, Datuk Henry Harry Jinep, said he had approved RM200,000 from his Rural Transformation Project (RTP) to help solve the parking problem in the Bau Hospital area that has been dragging on for so long.
He said with the state allocation, over 60 new parking bays would be provided at the hospital area.
The Deputy Minister for Transport (Rivers and Sea) said he was concerned about the problem at Bau Hospital, which is experiencing a significant parking shortage, leading to congestion and frustration for patients and visitors who are forced to park illegally or far from the hospital.
“Increase number of visitors and or increase number of out-patients to the hospital who are seeking treatment at the hospital, besides the hospital staff cars, are some of the cause for congestion in the hospital’s ground.
“At the moment, the parking space is limited and could not accommodate the ever increasing number of vehicles, and vehicles are sometimes parked discriminately causing inconveniences somewhere somehow.
“Hopefully with the new additional parking space, it can accommodate at least 62 cars at one time,” he told Sarawak Tribune today.
Earlier, Henry witnessed the handing over of project site from the Public Work Department (JKR) to the contactor, which was held at the hospital ground.
He said although the project is scheduled to be completed in six months, he is optimistic that it can be completed earlier.
Aside from insufficient parking bays, lack of public transport is also said to have contributed to the over congestion problem within the Bau Hospital area.
Like many other hospitals and clinics in Kuching, Bau Hospital is not well-served by public transportation, making it difficult for people to find alternative ways to get to the hospital other than by private car.
Hospital Bau is a 68-bed government hospital located that provides non-specialist outpatient and inpatient services, including emergency, pharmacy, and diagnostic units.
For specialist care, patients are referred to Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching.
Meanwhile, a proposal for a new four-story building to upgrade the hospital, which would add more beds and specialised facilities like an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and operating theaters to accommodate the growing population, had been submitted by Henry recently.
He stressed that the proposed Bau Hospital upgrade project is critical for the residents of the Bau area and surrounding areas and thus he had taken the initiative to make a courtesy call on federal Deputy Health Minister Dato Lukanisman Awang Sauni to the ensure that the project can be expedited for the convenience of the community to receive treatment at the hospital.
“Bau Hospital, which has existed for the past 33 years, operates as a hospital without specialists with only 68 beds.
“This existing capacity is no longer able to accommodate the increasing demand for health services in the Bau district, which now has a population of around 75,000 people excluding patients from outside the area such as Padawan, Penrissen and residents from the Lundu District who live near the Bau District.
“Most importantly, this proposed upgraded hospital will function as an effective ‘step down care’ centre, thus reducing congestion and burden at the Sarawak General Hospital (HUS),” he was quoted as saying.
