The first state hospital to be built in Brunei was the Pekan Brunei Hospital, also referred to as “Hospital Kajang” by the locals. This hospital was built 17 years after the idea of a state hospital was suggested by Howard Chevalier, the acting British Resident in 1911.

Pehin Mr. Ian Harris, an Australian Scotsman graduated from the University of Adelaide, Australia and completed his post-graduate training in the United Kingdom. His training included general, thoracic and orthopaedic surgery. He joined the Brunei Health Service in 1963 after Dato Peter Hart and was employed as the first State Specialist Surgeon based in Pekan Brunei Hospital. He was the first surgeon with a Fellowship to work in Brunei. His wife, Ursula Harris accompanied him and joined the Health Service as a Nursing Officer in charge of the Chest/ Tuberculosis ward.