Johor Urges Immediate Action to Fill Over 2,000 Vacancies at Major Government Hospitals

KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 2026 – Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has urged the Health Ministry to immediately address a critical shortage of healthcare workers affecting three of the state’s major government hospitals.

More than 2,000 healthcare positions remain vacant across Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Hospital Sultan Ismail and Hospital Pasir Gudang. Onn Hafiz warned that the staffing crisis had placed growing pressure on existing doctors, nurses and other medical personnel.

He called on the Federal Government to fulfil its commitment to resolve the shortage, noting that some healthcare workers had resigned after struggling to cope with increasingly heavy workloads caused by insufficient staffing.

The Johor Mentri Besar said he recently visited Hospital Sultanah Aminah to assess conditions at the facility and receive a briefing on measures being taken to maintain the effectiveness of its healthcare services.

Among the planned measures is the temporary relocation of the hospital’s emergency and trauma department to its maternity and labour delivery centre beginning in early August. The move is intended to facilitate electrical system upgrading works while ensuring that hospital operations can continue safely.

A project valued at nearly RM159 million is also underway to upgrade the hospital’s main power supply, electrical and mechanical systems, alongside several other infrastructure improvements.

Despite these upgrades, Onn Hafiz stressed that the shortage of medical personnel remains a serious concern. Hospital Sultanah Aminah is one of Johor’s primary referral hospitals and receives thousands of patients from across the state each day.

He expressed concern that the burden placed on healthcare workers had become unsustainable and could affect both staff welfare and the quality of services delivered to patients.

The Johor government will continue working with the relevant authorities to identify effective solutions, while pressing the Health Ministry to accelerate recruitment and deployment to the affected hospitals.