On the 22nd January I left for a Medical Fam trip to Malaysia with a small group of myself from Canada and 6 Travel Agent Owner operators from the USA.  I must admit I was somewhat skeptical not really knowing what to expect. I knew we would be visiting 7 hospitals in various parts of Malaysia, but had no idea what to expect of the standards of Care, Equipment and Professional services. To say the least I was in for an informative trip and I was to be overwhelmed with the standards and the services.

This really was an eye opening experience. I was in Malaysia a couple of years ago at the Tourism Trade Show, and loved what I saw of the country at that time, but Medical Tourism had never even entered my head. To be truthful like many out there I have a healthy skepticism of Medical services and facilities in foreign countries. I was to be amazed with the standards of the Hospitals we visited. All the Hospitals were spotless even though some of them were older facilities or under renovation the cleanliness throughout could not be questioned.

We literally went into all the areas of the Hospitals, seeing the equipment, the labs, the dialysis facilities, emergency wards, ICU’s MRI’s, CAT scans, paediatric centres you name it we saw it. We were introduced to heads of departments, shown how equipment worked and met with many of the nursing staff. There was no doubt in my mind of the dedication and the caring of the nursing staff. Even the CEO’s of the Hospitals we were visiting didn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand with gurneys when we came across them coming out of elevators etc.

The wards themselves were fully equipped and had TV’s, telephones and call buttons, some even had the ability to move the bed and turn the room into a day room by sliding doors across the equipment built into the walls behind the beds. There were many wards that could have readily been mistaken for Hotel rooms, and some even had Murphy beds or pull out sofas for family members to stay with the patient. Surprise, surprise there were menus for meal choices.

The children’s wards had all been done out in themes for the kids and of course the play area for the kids. One thing that I thought was really good was that most of the Hospitals had arranged the layout so that everything connected to one specific service was on one floor. For instance everything for children was on one floor, the specialists, the pharmacy, the registration, the wards, the administration office, making it easier to find things and in this case preventing children from running around in areas they shouldn’t be. Another area where this was very noticeable was in the Cancer Treatment Facilities were they had a separate check in, separate waiting room,  the Radiology and the Chemotherapy, the specialists, the pharmacy and a cafeteria and even a retail shop that had prosthetics and wigs, making it more comfortable for the patients.

One area of particular interest was the wellness centres all promoting executive screening for both men and women with a wide array of tests and scans. In these days of preventive medicine they all had numerous preventive testing programs at a nominal cost, and we were assured that the Doctors themselves actually sit down with the patients at the end of the testing and go over in detail all the results. In a Province like BC were we have found it impossible to find a family doctor and have to attend whatever clinic is closest, and where my friend who has had the same doctor for 20 years is relegated to 10 minutes a visit and 2 questions (actually posted in the Doctor’s office) it is refreshing to know that Doctors in Malaysia still have time to spend time with the patients.

As for the qualifications of the Doctors they were top notch. Most have been certified internationally in North America, UK, Australia and Europe, many are guest speakers around the world and well renowned in scientific fields for their experiments and research. Some of the hospitals had permanent staff, some had some permanent with some guest specialists.  All were experts in their fields of speciality.

To top all this Malaysian prices are nominal compared to prices in North America. The example we were given to follow was that the charges when compared in US dollars were the same in Malaysian Ringits. For example if surgery was $25,000 US then it would be close to 25,000 Ringits is Malaysia. The Ringit runs around 3.5 to $1 US dollar, so this makes the cost in Malaysia approx. $7,150 US.

The wards themselves ranged from VIP Suites at around $180 US a night including meals and nursing services to around $60 a night for a single regular room. There were cheaper options for 2-6 bedded wards. All have nearby Hotels that offer special rates for recuperating patients and their companions, and transfers can be arranged directly from the airports to the Hospital. The Hospitals will even assist with immigration services for longer staying patients.

We visited several emergency and outpatient facilities and we were surprised at how quiet they were even if there were lots of people. Everyone appeared to be very respectful of everyone else there. We were shown how one hospital has installed a system to identify when cars or ambulances arrived at their doors and a team was immediately dispatched to take care of the arrival. We asked the inevitable question – how long does it take for a patient to be attended to in an emergency centre ?? – 5 minutes was the average, and another question – how long does it take for treatment before being taken to a ward or sent home?? – 60 minutes. Wow, I wish that could be said of here.

Several insurance companies are now starting to support the costs of overseas surgeries. In Canada Olympia Insurance is one of the first.  It makes sense as long as the standards are as high as they are in Malaysia as the cost savings are great. Not only that the long wait times in Canada especially for elective surgery are huge. 3-4 years for knee or hip replacements, just to name a couple. During that wait time patients deteriorate, spend a small fortune on medications and in general cannot lead a normal work or social life – this in itself adds to other problems such as overweight and emotional problems over not being as active as they would like.

Malaysia also has stem cell research programs and works with the UK, Europe and other countries to develop this area.

Of course Cosmetic surgery is big these days and just about all of the Hospitals we visited offered those surgeries. For those wanting surgery and combined holiday this is perfect. Kuala is a large city with lots of lakes, and sightseeing options, however Penang and Langkawi are well known beach resort areas and perfect for relaxation and recuperation on the beach.

We were told many times during our visit that the Politics in Malaysia are stable, that all races and religions are respected and treated equally and everything we saw supported this.

As you know doubt can tell from my enthusiastic write up, Malaysia is the perfect spot for Medical Tourism and we would be happy to assist anyone who wishes to know more about the various options open to them. For more information on Malaysia and the Hospitals particularly the ones visited please don’t hesitate to contact me directly at 604-524-3368 or by email at avril@a-ztravel.com – email is best for the quickest responses.

SJMC: SUBANG JAYA MEDICAL CENTRE
PENANG ADVENTIST HOSPITAL
GLENEAGLES
PANTAI AYER KEROH HOSPITAL
MAHKOTA MEDICAL CENTRE