Sultanah Aminah Hospital

Sultanah Aminah Hospital
Hospital Sultanah Aminah
Geography
Location Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Services
Emergency department Yes
History
Founded 1882
Links
Website hsajb.moh.gov.my/versibaru/
Lists Hospitals in Malaysia

The Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA; Malay: Hospital Sultanah Aminah) is a government-funded multi-specialty hospital located in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. It is the largest hospital in Johor and the main referral and tertiary health centre for the state. HSA is also one of the busiest hospitals in Malaysia based on patient load. However, budget cuts have affected its level of service.[1]

History

Originally founded in 1882 as the Johor Bharu General Hospital, it serves as the city's and district's principle public medical centre since its inception. The present main building, a massive complex fashioned in a brick facade Streamline Moderne style, was constructed between 1938 and 1941 to replace the original 1882 hospital building. The hospital would subsequently receive upgrades and expansions, including a two-storey lobby/emergency wing in front of the main building during the 1970s, and a new east wing and extensive refurbishment at a cost of RM 267 million in 2009.

The first public sector intensive care unit (ICU) in Malaysia was set up at the General Hospital in 1968 under the stewardship of the State Anaesthesiologist (Dato’) Dr T. Sachithanandan. Its ICU was officially declared open on 3 February 1969 by HRH Sultan Ismail of Johor.[2] The funding to build the ICU was derived from the Ministry of Health (MOH), Johor state government and charitable public donations via fundraising by the Johor Baru Junior Chamber International (JCI-Jaycees). The hospital's unit became the model upon which subsequent ICU facilities were designed and built in numerous other MOH state general hospitals nationwide.

The first postgraduate medical center in Malaysia was also established at the General Hospital in 1969 by three medical pioneers; Dato' Dr Lim Kee Jin (physician), Dato' Dr. T. Sachithanandan (anaesthetist) and Datuk Dr. Sam C.E.Abraham (paediatrician).[3]

The hospital would later be renamed in honour of Sultanah Ungku Tun Aminah binti Ungku Ahmad, Sultan Ismail's first wife, following her death in 1977.

2016 fires

The HSA was a subject of controversy in 2016 following a fire on 25 October that broke out in the ICU of the main building, killing 6 people and wounding another four.[4][5] A day after, a second, smaller fire occurred in the operation theatre in the emergency and trauma ward.[6]

With investigations ongoing on the causes of the fire, questions were raised on the long-standing lax safety standards of hospitals based in pre-war buildings that were originally constructed with no little to no fire safety features, leading to intentions by the government to conduct safety audits on all hospitals in the country, starting with the oldest, including the 136-year old Batu Gajah Hospital and early blocks of the 130-year old Penang General Hospital.[7][8]

See also

References

Coordinates: 1°27′32″N 103°44′46″E / 1.4587954°N 103.746101°E / 1.4587954; 103.746101

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.