Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital (HSAH), formerly known as Hospital Sungai Petani, is a government-funded rural general hospital situated in

Sungai Petani Sungai Petani ( abbr. Sg. Petani or SP) is a city in Kuala Muda District, Kedah, Malaysia. The population of the municipal area of Sungai Petani is larger than Kedah's state capital, Alor Setar. It is located about 55 km south of Alor Set ...

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

, Malaysia. It is a 498-bed hospital which provides secondary and tertiary specialist services. The hospital, costing US$150 million, is one of the most high-tech hospitals in northern

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

with Total Hospital Information System. The Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital was handed over by the Public Works Department to the Health Ministry on 23 July 2006. The hospital provides

laparoscopic Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or human pelvis, pelvis using small Surgical incision, incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few ...

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

operations. It is a recognised training center for gynaecologists in this field. It is also a center for thoracic surgery for the northern part of

. This hospital is a training hospital for Sungai Petani Nursing College and

AIMST University Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST University) is a non-profit private university in Malaysia. It was established under the Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED), a non-profit organisation. The university was bui ...

. The hospital is named after Kedah's former Sultan,

Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Mu’tassimu Billahi Muhibbuddin Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah ( Jawi: ; 28 November 1927 – 11 September 2017) was the 28th Sultan of Kedah from 1958 until his death in 2017, and served twice as the Yang d ...

History

The hospital's history dates back to 1920 when the ''Medical Officer Central Kedah'' was set up. It was headed by Dr. Richard Brunel Hawes from England. At that time, the hospital was surrounded by rubber estates and jungles with wild animals. During the Japanese Occupation in 1942, the psychiatric wing was moved to the Bedong Group Estate because the building was used as a Japanese army camp. After the British returned at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the psychiatric wing was shifted back to its original home. The hospital was then renamed the Sungai Petani District Hospital. It was situated in a land with the size of next to Sungai Petani prison and had 396 beds. At first the hospital did not have any specialists. Specialist services were only started in 1974 with obstetrics and gynaecology as well as internal medicine. Due to the rapid growth of

Kuala Muda The Kuala Muda District is a district in Kedah, Malaysia. Sungai Petani is the administrative center of the district. Kuala Muda district is in close proximity to the border of Kedah and Penang. Apart from Sungai Petani, other major towns in t ...

district, the need for a new hospital that would keep up with the growing needs of the community became evident. Construction was started on a new 550-bed hospital which would be one of the most up-to-date in Northern

in Amanjaya. The cost of construction was US$150 million. The hospital was handed over by the Public Works Department to the Health Ministry on 23 July 2006. After the completion of new hospital complex, the old Hospital Sungai Petani was repurpose as Sungai Petani Health Clinic which consist Kuala Muda District Health Office.

Specialisations

SAHH currently offers specialist services in 11 fields, as follows: * Internal medicine * Thoracic surgery * Obstetrics and gynaecology * Orthopaedics * Anaesthesiology * Ophthalmology * Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) * Radiology * Pathology * Paediatrics * Psychiatry and mental health

Teaching Hospital

Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital serves as a teaching hospital for medical students from

. It is a recognised training center for gynaecologists in the field of

operations.

References

Official Webpage

Hospital probes claim of negligence
The Star, 9 March 2007.
Malaysian Medical Resource report
* https://jknkedah.moh.gov.my/hsah/ {{Authority control 2006 establishments in Malaysia Hospitals in Kedah Kuala Muda District Teaching hospitals in Malaysia