Green zone ‘closure’ was to ease congestion at emergency dept, says HSA

Sultanah Aminah Hospital said the green zone was reopened at 5pm on Wednesday after it was closed at 3pm. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) in Johor has cleared the air over the supposed closure of its emergency and trauma department’s green zone, saying it was merely managing the number of patients in a specific area.

In a statement today, the hospital said the “closure” was to redirect patients to the Mahmoodiah Health Clinic at the hospital.

“This redirection to Mahmoodiah Health Clinic was due to an increase in patients receiving treatment in the yellow and red zones exceeding their capacity,” it said.

Earlier, a photograph uploaded on X (formerly Twitter) showed a notice indicating that the green zone was closed from 2pm to 9pm on Jan 17 because of capacity issues.

HSA said the green zone was reopened at 5pm the same day, earlier than initially anticipated.

Meanwhile, health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad gave an assurance that everything was under control when a netizen questioned if the healthcare system was collapsing.

He said the redirection of patients was a mechanism the ministry employed to reduce the waiting time at the emergency department.

“It is activated when there is a surge in non-critical cases waiting in the emergency zone,” he said on X.