KUCHING: Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) has received two ventilators worth RM280,000 from Yayasan OBYU, the philanthropic and corporate responsibility arm of OBYU Group, for its Medical Critical Care Unit (MCCU).

The MCCU, the first medical-based intensive care unit in Malaysia, treats patients suffering from heart, kidney and lung failure, stroke and other serious medical conditions.

"We are deeply grateful to Yayasan OBYU for this timely donation, which will go a long way in helping us address a critical need and improve care for our patients," SGH said in a statement on Friday.

The ventilators were received on behalf of SGH by Sarawak Deputy Premier and Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Amar Professor Dr Sim Kui Hian, together with SGH Director Dr Ngian Hie Ung and Head of MCCU Dr Rachel Chin Wei Ven.

Yayasan OBYU was represented by its Board of Trustees, led by Datu Dr Hatta Solhi, with OBYU Group founder Tan Sri Bustari Yusuf also present.

Before its establishment, critically ill patients had to be admitted to the hospital's Intensive Care Units (ICU), where a shortage of beds often left them waiting for urgent care and raised the risk of death or long-term complications.

The 13-bed MCCU has since allowed critically ill patients at SGH to receive more timely, specialised care, while freeing up ICU beds for patients requiring critical surgery, trauma care and other specialised treatment.

In its first 10 months of operation, the unit treated over 600 patients, averaging 50 to 60 a month, with about 80 per cent requiring intubation and ventilator support.

However, the MCCU currently shares its limited ventilators with other ICU units housed in a separate building at SGH, creating logistical challenges and delays in transferring equipment between patients in the ICU, MCCU and Neurology High Dependency Unit (NHDU).

The shortage has kept the unit from operating at optimum capacity despite having sufficient beds, trained staff and clinical expertise on hand; it is estimated to need six more ventilators. -UKASnews