Dengue patients forced to hallways

Dengue patients forced to hallways

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bogor/Tangerang

The constantly increasing number of dengue fever patients in
Jakarta combined with the hospitals' limited capacity has left no
choice for many of the city-run hospitals to place poor patients,
mostly children, on the floor in the corridors.

Almost 8,000 people have contracted dengue in the past few
weeks here. Many have been treated at the city's 16 recommended
public hospitals.

At the public Tarakan Hospital in West Jakarta, the second-
floor corridor has been transformed into a ward for 12 children
with dengue fever, most of whom were trying to sleep amid the
many people bustling in and out of the rooms on the floor.

Babies' screams filled the air as mothers tried to calm them
down. The floor was littered with dirt, debris and rotting food
leftovers, where the relatives of the patients were staying to
take care of them.

"It is good enough that the hospital allows us stay here and
takes care of my son for free. I don't really care about the
noise and the filth," said Widia, whose son Aldi was sleeping on
a folding cot placed in front of the elevator.

She added that her son had a hard time sleeping in the noisy
environment, but she did not have enough money to pay for an
actual hospital room with a bed.

Sobirin, 6, was lying on a cot next to Aldi. His mother, Imah,
had to sweep the floor before she could sit down next to her
son's bed. The trash bin nearby reeked of all manner of
putrefying odors.

When The Jakarta Post tried to talk to one of the patients, a
stray cat moseyed on past the cramped corridor to sift through
some of the more edible leftovers, while a newspaper boy was
hanging around peddling his products.

The janitor in charge of the second floor, Heri, said he
usually cleaned the corridor in the morning and afternoon, but as
there were so many people there "I now clean it as often as
possible."

Budhi Asih Hospital in Cawang, East Jakarta, was a similar.
The hospital's head of service, Hot S. Hutagalung, told the Post
that among the 26 patients placed in the corridor, 12 were
children.

"We are planning to move some of the patients to an empty
building in front of the hospital. However, it would not be easy
as we have to add more doctors and nurses."

In Bogor, dengue fever patient Suci, a junior high school
student, had to receive treatment at home as the Salak Army
Hospital, which offers free medical treatment, had no more space.

Her mother, Petronela, said she presumed other hospitals
would be out of capacity as well.

"I'm also afraid that I will have to pay a lot of money at
other hospitals while we can get free treatment at Salak Hospital
as Suci's father is in the Army," she said.

A similar situation also occurred in Tangerang General
Hospital and Husada Insani Hospital, which no longer have space
available for dengue fever patients.

"This hospital only has 391 beds but since the number of
dengue patients increases all the time, we have used all the
spare beds and borrowed 20 others from a hospital in Jatiuwung
subdistrict," Tangerang General Hospital spokeswoman, Nina
Kusmadianti, said.

Husada Insani Hospital spokeswoman, Yanti Vidiani, said that
her hospital also had to borrow from private hospitals in
Tangerang.