AFTER partially closing for two months due to a lack of specialists, the 82-year-old Negri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Hospital (NSCMH) Medical Centre in Seremban has undergone a RM30mil upgrade.

With a new team at the helm, the hospital, which was originally a non-profit entity, is now fully functional and the number of beds has also increased from 32 to 62.

In June, the hospital opened a paediatric ward and dialysis centre that president Datuk Lee Tian Hock said would eventually be equipped with 36 dialysis machines, which would be secured through sponsorship.

“We now have 12 machines and, true to our motto of helping the needy, we only charge patients RM50 per session,” Lee said during a tour of the dialysis centre in the hospital’s new Tan Lam Hui block.

He explained that the block was named after the father of Berjaya Corp Bhd founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan.

Lee said when the dialysis centre was fully equipped, 24 machines would be reserved for poor patients while the other 12 would be available for customers who would have to pay the standard rates.

“The subsidy is only for the poor,” he stressed.

Lee said the hospital would seek funding from the Health Ministry and through public donations to ensure the poor could receive affordable treatment.

“The government provides a RM50 subsidy for each dialysis patient but the amount is insufficient. We will find ways to raise funds so that we will not have to turn the poor away,” he said.

He added that the dialysis centre could accommodate up to 54 machines if needed.

The NSCMH Medical Centre was first set-up as the Negri Sembilan Chinese Maternity Hospital in 1932 by Chinese businessman and philantropists.

Source: The Star