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.