COVID RESPONSE our National Leprosy Control Centre ( PKKN ),” said Dr Kuldip .
Opened in 1930 , PKKN was the most advanced facility of its kind during the days of the British Empire . It was used to separate leprosy patients from the general population until 1995 and was now being called upon once again , after a month ’ s refurbishment , to accommodate a 60-bedded COVID-19 ward , extending the hospital ’ s capacity to almost 8,000 patients .
As case numbers mounted and the hospital reached one-third capacity by mid-April with infections continuing to grow , Dr Kuldip and her team continued to optimise and refine COVID-19 patient management as they sought to tackle it head-on .
As the pandemic took its inevitable toll on the morale of Sungai Buloh Hospital ’ s front-liners , it led Dr Kuldip to establish counselling and Psychological First Aid ( PFA ) services for healthcare staff experiencing a myriad of emotions , from fatigue to the fear of infecting their loved ones .
The administrators were forced to endure an endless series of meetings that would often continue past midnight as they looked for means to source PPE sustainably and then devise ways to optimise usage . They would debate well into the night new strategies to manage the crisis as the hospital became the primary treatment centre for COVID-19 patients in Malaysia ’ s most populous region .
“ I have never experienced this in my 28 years of service in healthcare . The challenge was totally new , but it was something that I could handle
The Hospital Sungai Buloh team
through the staunch support from all my heads of department and all the staff at the hospital ,” said Dr Kuldip . “ Without them it wouldn ’ t have been possible . They all came together : we had brainstorming sessions ; we formed a task force that came up with solutions to our challenges .”
The hospital ’ s infectious disease consultant , Dr Suresh Kumar Chidambaram , also played a pivotal role in Sungai Buloh Hospital ’ s approach to the crisis . As one of the main advisors to the Malaysian Ministry of Health and an infectious disease specialist , he implemented measures that ensured that the hospital ’ s staff stayed healthy and that their patients were given the best fighting chance to recover from COVID-19 .
“ We were quite well prepared for COVID-19 , so when we heard about the outbreak in China , our infrastructure
was already very good . We were the first movers , we moved fast , we got prepared , so the virus couldn ’ t get the better of us ,” said Dr Suresh .
Critical care specialist Dr Shaiful Azman Bin Zakaria and his team also assessed the various protocols used by the Ministry of Health during previous viral outbreaks , such as MERS-CoV and H1N1 , subsequently tailoring them for the current situation .
“ Without their input , I think it would be difficult for me to say what might have happened otherwise . It ’ s a tribute to their skills and experience that we ’ ve managed to weather this situation and keep Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas , which are so heavily populated , safe for the most part of this epidemic . I cannot laud or thank them enough , and all the staff at our hospital , for their determination , resourcefulness and refusal to give up in the face of adversity ,” said Dr Kuldip .
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com DECEMBER 2020
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