KOTA KINABALU: President of Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri and former Member of Parliament for Kinabalu (now Ranau), Datuk Henrynus Amin, has voiced deep outrage and heartfelt sympathy for the medical officers at Ranau Hospital who are being driven to physical and mental collapse due to systemic neglect and severe understaffing.
Speaking as a native son of Kampung Marakau, Ranau, Datuk Henrynus expressed unwavering solidarity with the frontline healthcare workers who have been forced to endure continuous 48- to 72-hour shifts without a single day of rest in a month just to keep the district hospital open.
“The situation at Ranau Hospital is no longer just an administrative failure; it is an active humanitarian crisis for both our frontline doctors and the people of Ranau,” said Datuk Henrynus when commenting on a social media report about the issue.
Datuk Henrynus highlighted the grim realities faced daily by healthcare workers on the ground where frontline doctors are routinely forced to manage more than 50 patients a day.
He said doctors on duty are struggling under a relentless flood of outpatient visits while simultaneously attempting to cover a critically understaffed Emergency Department where split-second decisions affect human lives.
Henrynus also question the lack of rest amenities for doctors on duty. There are reports doctors working grueling, multi-day shifts do not even have access to a decent, proper room with functioning air-conditioning units to rest or recover during brief breaks between work intervals.
He questioned why the hospital lacks a functioning canteen or proper facilities where staff can purchase food and drinks or get basic sustenance during grueling 72-hour shifts.
Forcing doctors to practice under such basic deprivation proves that Ranau Hospital has been severely neglected by both federal and state healthcare authorities.
Datuk Henrynus also called out the dangerous disconnect between Putrajaya’s administrative dashboards and actual ground conditions.
While official figures state that Ranau Hospital has an approved allocation of 16 medical officer positions on paper, reports indicate that only 8 doctors are physically present on duty. The remaining posts are reportedly tied up by officers who are away on full-pay study leave (Cuti Belajar Bergaji Penuh) or pending unreplaced transfers.
“Counting doctors who are away on study leave as active staff on paper creates dangerous ‘phantom capacity’ on federal dashboards. While bureaucrats look at a spreadsheet in Putrajaya and see 16 doctors, the reality in Ranau is that only 8 doctors are bearing the workload of 16,” Datuk Henrynus stressed.
On behalf of Parti Kerjasama Anak Negeri and the people of Ranau, Datuk Henrynus Amin calls upon the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) and the Sabah State Health Department (JKNS) to take the following immediate, concrete steps:
Publicly clarify whether it is true that Ranau Hospital is operating with only 8 physically active doctors out of an allocated 16, and state how many listed posts are currently tied up by officers on study leave without active replacements.
Deploy an Emergency Relief Taskforce Immediately:
Send an immediate, emergency pool of relief medical officers from major tertiary hospitals to Ranau Hospital to restore safe 24-hour shift rotations and share the heavy load across the Emergency and Outpatient departments.
Rectify Basic Welfare and Hospital Facilities:
Immediately upgrade and furnish proper, clean rest rooms for on-call doctors and restore reliable, hygienic food and beverage facilities on-site so staff are not left without basic meals during long shifts.
Reform “Paper Staffing” Policies:
Establish an automatic backfilling mechanism so that whenever a medical officer proceeds on extended study leave or training, their district post is temporarily vacated and a replacement officer is deployed immediately.
“Our young doctors entered the medical profession to serve the community, not to be broken by administrative neglect and substandard facilities,” Datuk Henrynus concluded.
“Ranau is not a second-class district, and its hospital must not be treated as an afterthought. We demand that the Health Minister and JKNS act immediately to protect the welfare of our doctors and safeguard the health and safety of the people of Ranau.” he said.
