Across three major hospitals in Johor, more than two thousand healthcare positions sit unfilled — a quiet crisis made loud by the resignations of those who could no longer carry the weight. Johor's Mentri Besar has stepped forward to name what the numbers reveal: a structural failure in the federal government's commitment to the state's healthcare workforce. As patients continue to arrive and infrastructure upgrades proceed, the deeper question remains unanswered — who will be there to care for them?
Johor urges urgent action on 2,000+ healthcare vacancies at major hospitals
Healthcare workers are experiencing unsustainable workload burdens leading to resignations, while patient care quality is at risk due to staff shortages.
The burden they are carrying has become too heavy
Mark
Why is Hospital Sultanah Aminah in particular such a pressure point?
Mimi
It's a referral hospital—when smaller clinics and district hospitals can't handle a case, they send patients there. Thousands arrive every day. It's the safety net for the entire state, which means the staff there absorb everything that can't be managed elsewhere.
Mark
And the resignations—are people leaving for better pay elsewhere, or is it purely the workload?
Mimi
The Mentri Besar specifically said workers can't cope with the increasing workload. When you're short-staffed, the remaining people work harder. Eventually, that becomes unsustainable. Some leave for other jobs, some leave healthcare entirely.
Mark
The RM159 million upgrade—does that help with the staffing problem?
Mimi
No. It fixes the building's electrical systems, which is necessary for safe operations. But you can't upgrade your way out of a staffing shortage. The infrastructure work is separate from the human problem.
Mark
So what happens if the Health Ministry doesn't fill these positions?
Mimi
The people still working get more exhausted. Patient care quality declines. More resignations follow. It becomes a downward spiral that's harder to reverse the longer it goes on.
Mark
Is Johor unique in this problem?
Mimi
The source doesn't say. But Johor is calling it out publicly, which suggests it's acute enough that the state government felt compelled to push the federal government for action.
The Pulse
- Over 2,000 vacant positions across Johor's three major hospitals have pushed remaining staff to a breaking point, triggering a cycle of resignations that deepens the very crisis driving people out.
- Hospital Sultanah Aminah, a high-volume referral centre serving thousands daily, is absorbing the sharpest strain — its staff holding the line through exhaustion rather than adequate support.
- A RM159 million infrastructure upgrade is underway, but bricks and wiring cannot replace the nurses, doctors, and technicians the system is hemorrhaging.
- Johor's Mentri Besar has gone public with the crisis, framing it as a broken federal promise and pressing the Health Ministry in Kuala Lumpur to act before the system fractures further.
- Without urgent intervention from the federal government, healthcare quality for Johor's residents risks a steady, compounding deterioration — one resignation at a time.
Across three major hospitals in Johor, more than two thousand healthcare positions sit unfilled — a quiet crisis made loud by the resignations of those who could no longer carry the weight. Johor's Mentri Besar has stepped forward to name what the numbers reveal: a structural failure in the federal government's commitment to the state's healthcare workforce. As patients continue to arrive and infrastructure upgrades proceed, the deeper question remains unanswered — who will be there to care for them?
The waiting rooms at Johor's largest hospitals are filling faster than the staff can manage them. More than two thousand positions remain vacant across Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Hospital Sultan Ismail, and Hospital Pasir Gudang — and those still working are reaching a breaking point. Experienced healthcare workers are resigning because the pace has become unsustainable, leaving fewer hands to absorb a workload that only grows.
Johor's Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has made the crisis public, calling on the federal Health Ministry to act with urgency. After visiting Hospital Sultanah Aminah — a major referral centre drawing thousands of patients daily — he spoke out about what he witnessed. The hospital is managing, but barely, and only because its remaining staff are carrying a burden that cannot hold indefinitely.
The state is investing in the facility's future: a nearly RM160 million upgrade to electrical and mechanical systems is underway, with the emergency department temporarily relocating in early August to allow the work to proceed. These are necessary improvements. But infrastructure alone cannot deliver care.
Onn Hafiz has framed the staffing gap as a promise the federal government made to Johor and has not kept. The power to fill these positions rests with Kuala Lumpur, and until it acts, the system remains fragile — held together by the goodwill and exhaustion of those who have not yet walked away.
The waiting rooms at Johor's largest hospitals are filling faster than the staff can manage them. Over two thousand positions sit empty across three major facilities—Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Hospital Sultan Ismail, and Hospital Pasir Gudang—and the people working there are reaching a breaking point.
Johor's Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi has made the problem public, calling on the federal Health Ministry to act with urgency. The shortage has become critical, he said, and it is driving experienced healthcare workers out the door. People are resigning because they cannot sustain the pace. The workload keeps climbing while the hands available to do the work keep shrinking.
Hospital Sultanah Aminah bears the heaviest load. It functions as a major referral center, drawing thousands of patients daily from across the state. Onn Hafiz visited the hospital recently to see conditions firsthand. What he observed troubled him enough to speak out publicly. The hospital is managing, but only barely, and only because the staff remaining are absorbing an unsustainable burden.
The state is not sitting idle. A nearly 160 million ringgit project is underway to upgrade the hospital's electrical and mechanical systems—work that matters for the facility's long-term function. Beginning in early August, the emergency and trauma department will be temporarily relocated to the maternity and labour delivery centre, allowing critical electrical upgrades to proceed safely. These are necessary improvements. But they do not address the immediate crisis: there are not enough people to deliver care.
Onn Hafiz has framed this as a promise the federal government made to Johor and has not yet kept. The state government is working to find solutions, he said, but the real power to fill these positions lies with the Health Ministry in Kuala Lumpur. The gap between what the hospitals need and what they have is not a minor staffing adjustment—it is a structural problem affecting the quality of care that thousands of Johor residents receive every day.
The human cost is already visible. Healthcare workers are leaving because staying has become untenable. The patients keep coming. The infrastructure is being upgraded. But without the people to staff the wards and clinics, the system remains fragile, dependent on the goodwill and exhaustion of those who have not yet walked away.
Notable Quotes
The healthcare situation in Johor is at a critical level so we urge the Health Ministry to fulfil its promise and address the shortage of staff— Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi
I am worried that the burden they are carrying has become too heavy as HSA is one of the main referral hospitals receiving thousands of patients from across Johor every day— Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi
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