Sandakan MP Urges Health Ministry to Fast-Track Upgrading of Duchess of Kent Hospital
5 February 2026
SANDAKAN: Sandakan Member of Parliament Vivian Wong Shir Yee has urged the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) to expedite the evaluation and approval process for project funding so that the long-announced upgrading of the Duchess of Kent Hospital, Sandakan, can deliver tangible improvements in the near future.
She welcomed the government’s earlier announcement on allocations to upgrade government hospitals and rural health clinics throughout Sabah. However, she said the assessment and approval processes for upgrading projects implemented by government agencies often take an excessively long time.
As a result, the public has yet to experience the improvements or enhancements to healthcare facilities that were promised, she said.
Vivian cited the upgrading project for the Duchess of Kent Hospital Sandakan, along with several other projects, noting that although they had been announced or approved in principle, implementation still had to go through multiple layers of assessment and approval.
This, she said, could take years to finalise and ultimately failed to address the immediate healthcare needs of residents in the district.
She raised the matter during her debate in the Dewan Rakyat.
Vivian also stressed that the Duchess of Kent Hospital Sandakan has long faced shortages of medical equipment and specialist personnel, in addition to very limited and inadequate mental health services to meet local demand.
She added that government health clinics in densely populated areas of Sabah continue to struggle with overcrowding, often resulting in congestion and long waiting times for patients.
In this regard, Vivian called on the Ministry of Health to provide a clear and transparent explanation on the direction and utilisation of federal government allocations specifically channelled towards upgrading healthcare facilities in Sabah’s east coast.
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