JOHOR BARU: The state is on the way to becoming a medical hub – for both locals and foreigners – with the building of a new public hospital and the proposal for a wellness centre in Nusajaya.

Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said the public hospital would be located within the planned Medical City in Nusajaya.

“It will complement existing medical services in the state. The setting up of the hospital is still in the planning stage,” he told reporters after launching the Regency Specialist Hospital here yesterday.

Abdul Ghani said the proposed wellness centre would be built with the cooperation of the Singaporean government.

“Discussions on the proposal will only take off later, pending a meeting between Malaysian and Singaporean officials next year,” he said.

He added that the additional facilities could boost the state’s medical tourism and meet the needs of both local and foreign patients.

He added that Johor’s strategic location and comparable costs for healthcare could draw more foreign patients, especially from Singapore and Indonesia.

“Judging from the growth in the number of foreign patients in the state, Johor is set to be a medical hub in the near future,” he said.

On the lack of specialists in local hospitals, Abdul Ghani added that this was a longstanding problem in the state and the country.

“We have the facilities but we need to increase the number of medical experts,” he said.

He added that in order to handle the problem for now, specialists were brought in from private institutions.