Kuala Lumpur General Hospital

The Kuala Lumpur General Hospital or Hospital Kuala Lumpur is the main general hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The hospital has 38 different departments and units. These include the administration & finance department, the pharmaceutical department, training and research, 23 clinical departments and 11 clinical support services.

Hospital Kuala Lumpur is now the largest hospital under the Ministry of health of Malaysia and is considered to be one of the biggest in Asia. It is a government tertiary referral hospital, located on 150 acres of prime land with 81 wards and 2502 beds.

HKL has a huge staff of 7 000 workers with almost 100 professions in various fields and disciplines. Out of the total number of staff, there are about 200 consultants and specialists, 500 medical officers and registrars, 10 matrons, 100 sisters (ward managers), 1,600 registered nurses, 750 trained assistant nurses, and 40 trained mid-wives. The remaining staff are pharmacists, tutors, assistant pharmacists, medical assistants, administrative personnel and hospital attendants.

History

 * 1870 : It was developed as a district hospital comprising of 3 wards i.e., the Tai Wah Ward, the Choudhry Ward and the Malay Ward.


 * 1920 : Upgraded to 25 wards (1st. class in Bangsar, 2nd. class and 3rd. class).


 * 1962 : Development of HKL from Phase I to Phase IV. The development of the various phases were as follows: Phase I (1962 - 1968): Maternity Hospital, North Ward Block, Radiotherapy Department and Hostels for staff were built.


 * 1968 - 1972 (Phase II): South Ward Block, Neurology Institute, Surgical Block, Radiology Block, National Blood Transfusion Centre and more hostels were added.


 * 1972 - 1973 (Phase III): Specialist clinics, Outpatient Department and Doctor's hostel were constructed.


 * 1973 - 1974 (Phase IV-A): Trainee Nurses hostel and Clubhouse added.


 * 1975 (Phase IV-B): Orthopaedic Institute, Urology Institute, Artificial Limb Centre and Radiology Block built. The last phase of HKL was completed at the cost of RM 77 million.

1973 : HKL started functioning as a teaching hospital for UKM medical students.

1986 - 1988: Repairs and refurbishment of old building (Wooden Block) were performed.

1989 - 1992: Paediatric Institute was constructed.

1994 - 1997 (Phase II) - Upgrading of the Institute of Radiotherapy, Oncology and Nuclear Medicine.

Developments
KLH was conferred the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health Accreditation Status from July 23 last year to July 22, 2008.

“It was not easy for HKL to achieve the award. With 64 services and 7,000 staff, as well as being an old hospital, KLH faced a lot of constraints with structure and space,” said Dr Chua Soi Lek, Malaysian Minister of Health.

KLH is the biggest hospital in the South East Asian (ASEAN) region. It recorded 700,806 patients at the outpatient clinic last year with 124,570 patients being warded.

Famous patients

 * Tunku Abdul Rahman - Malaysia's first Prime Minister (1957-1970) (died in 1990 at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital)