PENDANG: The two decades wait by Pendang folks for a hospital in the district is set to end in two years following the project’s ground breaking ceremony by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today.
The construction of the RM210 million four-storey building hospital, to be built on a four hectare land here, will begin next month and the project is scheduled to be completed in two and a half years.
In his briefing to Najib at the site, Public Works Department director-general Datuk Seri Ir Dr Roslan Md Taha said the hospital would be equipped with 126 beds and five wards, two operation theatres, eight labour rooms, an X-ray and ultrasound facility, dialysis and a rehabilitation unit.
Pendang Hospital will have specialist doctors in general treatment and psychiatrists and also surgical units.
The hospital will also provides paediatric and Obstetric and Gynecology health treatments.
Pendang Hospital will help to ease congestion at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Star, which is located 24 kilometres away from here.
Present at the ground breaking ceremony were Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya and Kedah Health Department director Datuk Dr Nor Hizan Ismail.
Meanwhile, Pendang folks expressed their gratitude to the Prime Minister for fulfilling their dream to have a hospital in this district.
Ghazali Othman, 58, from Kampung Gajah Mati here said he was grateful that the wait was finally going to be over in two and a half years.
“We now have to travel about 24 kilometres to get to the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Star to get treatment for emergency cases and to get warded.
“All this while we have also depended on the Pendang Health Clinic for basic health check ups and the wait is quite long there because of the high number of patients,” he said.
Another Pendang resident, Hasnah Ibrahim, 47, said she hoped that the project would be completed according to schedule as they had been waiting for the hospital over the past 20 years.
