MAJLIS Amanah Rakyat (MARA) is ready to assist contract doctors who are not offered permanent positions to open their own clinics by offering them loans and providing the necessary training, said its chairman Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

Asyraf said MARA has helped many doctors and pharmacists become entrepreneurs by opening branches under the U.n.i. Klinik, U.n.i. Dental and U.n.i. Farmasi brands.

The UMNO secretary-general also said he will meet the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju), SME Bank and Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad (PUNB) soon to discuss how government funds that are meant for entrepreneurs could be channelled to benefit contract doctors.

“We will set up an ecosystem so that [the doctors] do not fail in this industry by providing entrepreneurial training, supervision and guidance while also preparing a supply chain so that the price of the equipment to be purchased is at the lowest,” he told Utusan Malaysia.

“But [the doctors] need to focus on the target group (their customers) as we are preparing these clinics not just for those who have money.”

Asyraf further noted that Mara will regulate the doctors’ charges to ensure they are not as expensive as other private clinics or as cheap as government clinics while giving assurance that the fees will be “reasonable for the B40 and M40 income groups”.

Previously, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government would absorb 12,800 of the 20,333 contract doctors into permanent positions in stages over three years.

According to Asyraf, MARA needs to cooperate with third parties to secure funding as it is unable to help contract doctors own clinics that cost more than RM400,000.

He said MARA’s role is not only to train entrepreneurs but also prepare an ecosystem that will ensure that they remain and grow within the industry.

“I imagine that one day if we have a network of big clinics, we can form a consortium and can even establish our own hospital and this can resolve part of the issue of contract doctors,” he asserted.

“MARA is incapable of resolving all these problems but we can prepare alternatives and to some extent resolve some of the existing problems.” - April 26, 2023

https://focusmalaysia.my/report-mara-wants-to-help-contract-doctors-open-their-own-clinics/