Last month I brought my kids to two different hospitals due to chicken pox. First my 1.5 year old daughter contracted the virus from some kid at her nursery. Initially we thought we could just care for Mia at home but after a few days her temperature reached alarming heights and she was so weak and quiet we just had to take her to a hospital for further inspection.
So we brought her to the KPJ Kajang Specialist hospital where she was eventually admitted for dehydration and her high temperature. Unlike PMC, KPJ Kajang Specialist is much closer to home and there's plenty of free parking space around the hospital. The paediatrician was just as professional too and Dr Mahani is really good with children. My only complaint was, KPJ Kajang provided a rather basic facilities and we didn't get any toiletries or complimentary gifts unlike PMC. The meal was below expectation too. In another word, KPJ is quite cheap compared to PMC.Like Adam, Mia was warded at KPJ Kajang for five days although being a fasting month it was slightly more challenging for both Linda and me. Lucky for us Mia was discharged exactly 2 days before our Hari Raya break. Unlucky for us though, 5 days later it was Adam's turn to have chicken pox when he got infected with the disease too.
As with Mia, Adam also had a really high temperature and even worse, he just couldn't stop scratching his pox marks. It was so bad that in the end we literally asked the doctor to admit Adam. They are 2 panel hospitals in Kota Bharu then. One is Kota Bharu Medical Centre and the other is KPJ Perdana Specialist hospital. We chose the latter since it was recommended by a relative whose been there before.
Like all our previous experience with hospitals, the screening process took an exceptionally long time. Since chicken pox is highly contagious, Adam had to be placed in an isolated single bed room where the room's rate is slightly higher than the regular 2 or 4 bedded rooms. The good thing is, KPJ Perdana hospital in Kota Bharu charged a much cheaper rates than their Selangor counterpart.
In term of facilities, I had to say the KPJ Perdana hospital in Kota Bharu is the least satisfactory of all the hospitals I've been to. While we took Adam to the diagnostic room, a cat casually entered the room and I had to physically remove that animal. Not to mention there's rubbish strewn on the floor. Appalling by any hospital's standard. Adam's single bed room was okay with a clean bed, 32" LCD TV and hot water in the shower although we would have preferred that the cleaner clean the room more often. We stayed there for 3 and half days and they only changed the sheets once.At PMC, the nurses gently fed Adam with food and medication themselves. At both KPJ hospitals, Linda had to do all the hard work. The nurses only came to hand over the medicines. Also the food here was either tasteless or downright horrible (from my observation). If I had to stay at any hospital, I would dread to stay and eat at this one.
Despite all those shortcomings, the doctor who treated Adam was really caring and gentle. He readily admitted that the hospital is indeed understaffed and they are running on a rather tight budget. But the most important thing is, Adam was in good hands, the nurses and the doctor took a really good care of Adam. In fact he made quite a fast recovery compared to Mia after being admitted to that hospital.
Of all the hospitals we've been to so far I must say Pantai Medical Centre is the best followed by KPJ Kajang Specialist and then KPJ Perdana Specialist in Kota Bharu. If any of our family member had to stay at a hospital again (I hope not!), we'd definitely choose to stay at any Pantai hospital branch.
