Private hospital, Macalister Road, George Town.
Island Hospital
The island’s largest private hospital — 600 beds on Macalister Road in central George Town, with accident and emergency open around the clock and its own ambulances.
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Island Hospital
Ask for Island Hospital on Jalan Macalister, a couple of kilometres west of KOMTAR. Every Penang driver knows it.
The street is signed Jalan Macalister; the hospital writes its own address as Macalister Road.
- TypePrivate — independent; the largest private hospital on the island
- BedsAbout 600
- Address308 Macalister Road, 10450 George Town, Penang
- General line and appointments+60 4 238 3388
- Emergency hotline and ambulance, 24 hours+60 4 226 8527
- International patient services+60 4 238 3333
- Emailinfo@islandhospital.com
- Websiteislandhospital.com
- HoursAccident and emergency open 24 hours, seven days a week, on the ground floor of the Macalister Wing; 24-hour ambulance service
- LanguagesEnglish and Malay in routine use; the international patient service arranges language interpreters and publishes a toll-free line for callers in Indonesia
- AccreditationMSQH (Malaysian Society for Quality in Health) and ACHS International (Australian Council on Healthcare Standards) hospital-wide, on the hospital’s own statement; it also states the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council named it a flagship medical tourism hospital in 2025 — confirm the current terms with the hospital
- Opened1996
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
A 600-bed private hospital in the middle of George Town, and the one most foreign patients in Penang are treated at. It covers the tertiary range — cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, oncology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, a large imaging department — and its accident and emergency department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, backed by its own ambulances. The hospital states it holds MSQH and ACHS International accreditation, and that the national medical-travel council named it a flagship medical tourism hospital in 2025.
What it is known for
Being the hospital foreign patients come to Penang for. Island Hospital is licensed for 600 beds on Macalister Road in central George Town, which makes it the largest private hospital on the island, and it runs the full tertiary range behind that: cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery, oncology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics, gastroenterology and a large imaging department. Its accident and emergency department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on the ground floor of the Macalister Wing, with its own ambulances. The hospital states it holds MSQH and ACHS International accreditation, and that the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council named it a flagship medical tourism hospital in 2025.
Who it suits
Almost any visitor who needs a hospital in George Town, insured or not, and particularly anyone who would rather have the process handled for them. The international patient service runs from before arrival to after you fly home: appointments, hotel and flight arrangements, an airport greeting, visa extensions, interpreters, cashless admission where the insurer agrees, and follow-up once you leave. It is also the obvious choice for a second opinion or a planned procedure, which is what most of its foreign patients come for. Without insurance, expect private prices; the state hospital across town is the cheaper answer for a long admission.
Cost and insurance
Private pricing, and the whole point of the place is that it sits far below the Western equivalent for the same work. The hospital publishes package prices for check-ups and common procedures, and its international office handles guarantee letters, cashless admission and reimbursement paperwork, so ask it to contact your insurer before you are admitted rather than after. Without a guarantee, expect to leave a deposit on admission and to settle before discharge. Ask for a written estimate before any procedure, and take away the itemised bill, the medical report and the discharge summary — all of it is written in English.
Getting there
On Macalister Road, signed Jalan Macalister, a couple of kilometres west of KOMTAR and in the middle of George Town rather than out at the edge, so it is ten to fifteen minutes by car from most heritage-zone hotels and around half an hour from Penang International Airport. There is no rail on the island, so a Grab or a taxi is the only sensible way, and traffic along Macalister and Burma roads is slow at the school run and the evening peak. The emergency entrance is on the ground floor of the Macalister Wing. Emergency hotline and ambulance: +60 4 226 8527.
Details checked against the hospital’s own website, September 2026. Call before a non-urgent visit; in an emergency call 999 or the hospital’s own emergency line above. Travel information, not medical advice.
The other 4 hospitals in Penang
- Hospital Pulau PinangPublic, about 1,090 beds, Jalan Residensi, west of KOMTAR.
- Gleneagles Hospital PenangPrivate, about 300 beds, Pulau Tikus, near Gurney Drive.
- Penang Adventist HospitalPrivate, about 251 beds, Jalan Burma, Pulau Tikus.
- Pantai Hospital PenangPrivate, about 209 beds, Bayan Baru, near the airport.