SHAH ALAM - The Selangor government is ready to facilitate and expedite land-related matters for the construction of the Petaling Jaya Hospital by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the facility is expected to benefit residents in the Petaling district, particularly those in Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya and Puchong.
He said that for the initiative, the MOH, relevant agencies and state government officers, including the State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN), the Petaling District and Land Office, as well as the Petaling Jaya City Council, will conduct a site visit this week on an urgent basis.
"The state government welcomes the announcement by Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad regarding the agreement on the proposed site location for the construction of the Petaling Jaya Hospital.
"This decision follows the latest coordination meeting held on May 14 involving federal and state agencies as well as local authorities,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Earlier, an online portal reported that a six-hectare site in Taman Medan, currently home to a modern sports complex, could address the urgent need for a public hospital to serve the densely populated Petaling Jaya-Subang-Puchong corridor.
Amirudin said the proposed site for the Petaling Jaya Hospital identified by the MOH is highly suitable to meet the needs of residents in Petaling Jaya, particularly in terms of accessibility, capacity, land cost and proximity to local communities.
He said the location would allow the 500-bed Petaling Jaya Hospital to be developed using a vertical concept similar to Ampang Hospital, without requiring excessively large land areas, while also optimising MOH costs.
"Efforts to identify a site for the Petaling Jaya Hospital have been actively pursued by the state government since 2018, taking into account the growing population in the Petaling district, which has now reached 2.3 million.
"In Petaling Jaya alone, there are more than 800,000 residents. Currently, residents in the Petaling district depend on Sungai Buloh Hospital, Shah Alam Hospital and the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, which is managed by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE),” he said.
Amirudin added that the state government is also working closely with the MOH to address access and congestion issues at public hospitals across Selangor. - BERNAMA