SGH cardiac unit head Prof Dr Sim Kui Hian said the fund was already in place.
“Normally we need RM29 million as budgeted for our services in SGH and another RM25 million for others … So, each year about RM50 million here.
“We have already the service and money there, just that we translocated it here,” he told journalists at the centre yesterday.
Dr Sim said the centre would be a good place for recovery in view of its “good air and environment”.
He said outpatients paid RM5 for services at the centre while RM3 would be charged per patient per night.
State Health Department director Dr Zulkifli Jantan said the centre would offer services at minimal charges for the first two years, but this might change after the period.
He pointed out that the day-to-day operating cost would only be known in a month or so.
“We have to look at utilities like electricity and water as these expenses are seen only after we run the centre,” he said.
He could not say when cancer treatment facilities would be available at the new centre.
“At the moment, we are short of cancer specialists in the government service,” he said, adding that there were only two experts in the state.
The centre, believed to be the first heart institute made public in the country, is located some 20 minutes from the city centre.
The National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur, which comes under the Finance Ministry, and charges private hospital rates.
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