Free van service to ferry elderly to hospital

KUALA LUMPUR: Senior citizens in Klang, Kapar and Shah Alam facing difficulties commuting from their home to the hospital and treatment centres now have the opportunity to use transport services for free.
Head of the service operation M. Sashitharaan, who is also Bandar Bukit Tinggi MIC branch chief, said the service using vans started last June specially for the elderly as one of the social responsibilities projects of Klang MIC division.
"The idea was mooted by MIC vice president Datuk S. A. Vigneswaran after he received numerous complaints from senior citizens on their difficulty in getting transport for their medical appointments and dialysis patients.
"As such, we (Klang Division MIC) came forward to provide facilities for this group, including those with children who are busy working and could not send them to get treatment," he told Bernama here today.
He said the service was being provided for senior citizens who wanted to receive treatment in the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital and nearby medical centres.
Sashitharaan said so far two vans donated by private companies are used to ferry the elderly.
He said the operating hours are from Monday to Saturday, from 9am to 5pm, daily and the schedule to take and send the senior citizens would depend on their appointment time at the hospital and medical centres.
According to him, the approach had received encouraging response and almost 100 senior citizens had registered to use the free service with the vans ferrying an average of 30 people daily.
For registration, the public can go to the administrative office at Wisma Palmbase, Persiaran Raja Muda Musa, Taman Gembira, Klang or contact phone 010-2882174 or email freemedicaltransport@gmail.com to obtain the registration form at the offices of Klang Division MIC branches. — Bernama