Hospitals in Malaysia

Malaysia is the country in this section where a foreign patient has least to worry about. English is an official working language and is used routinely in medicine, so consultations, forms and discharge letters come in a language most visitors read. The public hospitals run by the health ministry are competent and very cheap; the private ones in Kuala Lumpur and Penang are good enough that people fly in specifically to use them, which is why the country runs a national body to accredit hospitals for foreign patients.

The qualification is geography rather than quality. Peninsular Malaysia is well covered, but the Borneo states and the resort islands are not: on Langkawi, the Perhentians or Tioman, and across much of Sabah and Sarawak, provision thins to a district hospital or a clinic, and a serious case moves to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching or the peninsula. This page explains how the system works; the city pages list the hospitals with addresses, phone numbers and maps.

Cities

All 10 hospitals in Malaysia

Bed counts are approximate. Tap a name for the full page, or a city for that city’s guide.

Public or private?

Public hospitals, run by the health ministry, charge foreigners a published foreign-patient tariff that is still low by Western standards, and they hold the major trauma and specialist services in most states. They are busy, and waiting is the price. Private hospitals are faster, more comfortable, used to travel insurers and concentrated in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and the larger cities. In an emergency the nearest of either will treat you; for a planned consultation with a specialist, private is quicker and the cost difference is smaller here than almost anywhere.

What does treatment cost?

Less than most visitors expect. Public hospitals charge foreigners a set tariff for outpatient visits and admissions, at a fraction of private rates. Private hospital prices are a fraction of American or Australian ones for the same procedure, which is the basis of the country’s medical-travel business. Ask for a written estimate before a procedure. A private hospital will normally want a deposit on admission unless your insurer has guaranteed payment in advance, so ring the assistance line on your policy early.

Insurance and paperwork

Several private hospital groups bill major travel insurers directly, and their international patient offices exist to arrange exactly that, but the guarantee has to be in place before or at admission. Outpatient care is usually pay-and-claim. Because the paperwork is in English, claims from Malaysia are among the easiest to file: ask for the itemised bill and the medical report before you are discharged, and check the discharge summary names the diagnosis your insurer will need.

Borneo, the islands and diving

Sabah and Sarawak are large, thinly served and separated from the peninsula by a sea, so plan on the assumption that a serious case will be moved to Kota Kinabalu or Kuching and possibly onwards. The resort islands have clinics rather than hospitals; on Langkawi the hospital is on the island itself, but on the Perhentians and Tioman a patient goes to the mainland by boat. Divers heading to Sipadan, Mabul or the peninsula’s east-coast islands should ask their operator which recompression chamber it uses and how long the transfer takes, before getting in the water.

Malaysia travel guide / Malaysia visa guide / Malaysia tourist maps / All hospitals

Travel information, not medical advice.

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