KPJ Healthcare Berhad

Hospital project proof of warm ties, says Najib

Prime minister datuk Seri Najib Razak hailed the opening of a specialised hospital and nursing college

PRIME Minister Datuk Sen Najib Razak hailed the opening of a specialised hospital and nursing college here yesterday as a testament to the warm and friendly ties between Malaysia and Bangladesh.

He said the Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialised Hospital and Nursing College was made possible through the collaboration between the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust, a trust under Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's family, and KPJ Healthcare Bhd.

"Malaysia and Bangladesh have always enjoyed warm and friendly relations, and I am delighted to see our ties continue to improve," he said at the inaugural ceremony for the hospital.

Najib said through the joint undertaking, the 250 bed hospital would immediately have a qualified and experienced team of hospital managers in place.

He said the hospital would offer first class healthcare services, providing Bangladeshis, including from among the poor, with greater access to international standards of treatment.

"I was informed that 30 per cent of the patients will be from the poor and they will be given a special rate," he said.

Najib said the hospital would support Bangladesh's efforts to provide a safety net for the poor as well as services for the disabled, and help improve maternal and child healthcare.

Apart from healthcare services, the hospital would house a 50seat nursing college that would support Bangladesh's efforts to train healthcare professionals.

In 2011, KPJ Healthcare was the first private healthcare organisation approved by the Ministry of Higher Education to set up its own medical school, providing specialist training programmes for doctors from across Malaysia.

Earlier, Najib and Hasina witnessed the handing over of a replica of the hospital by the trust secretary Sheikh Hafizur Rahman to KPJ Healthcare president and managing director Amiruddin Abdul Satar.

Hasina, who is also president of the trust, said the hospital would be a model for publicprivate partnership in Bangladesh. She said apart from ensuring worldclass medical services and creating competition among healthcare service providers in Bangladesh, the hospital would help produce skilled physicians while making healthcare available.