Dialysis patients face cutbacks

TANGERANG (JP): State-owned Tangerang Hospital has reduced the number of patients receiving dialysis treatment to only nine per day due to the limited availability of both medicine and equipment, a director said yesterday.

"I cannot accept any new patients. The existing facilities are only capable of treating nine patients," Syartil Arfan, the hospital's director, said.

He explained that the hospital only charged dialysis patients Rp 375,000 per visit, the lowest price in Indonesia.

The hospital's decision to limit the number of patients was made because of the skyrocketing cost of providing the service, he said.

Syartil said the hospital was intending to raise the cost of medical treatment for wealthy patients, but the plan had been put on hold until it received approval from the regent.

The plan to increase prices for first-class and second-classes patients should have been enacted through a regional ordinance as well, he said.

Therefore, the price hike has been postponed even though the hospital is burdened with rising costs stemming from the monetary crisis.

He explained that the hospital suffered annual losses of Rp 500 million, which did not include the additional losses incurred during the crisis.

Medical services, however, are not affected, he said. But patients who recover sooner than expected are asked to leave the hospital.

Syartil said the hospital received Rp 500 million per year in subsidies from the Tangerang administration.

"We are still expecting more funds, especially for the maintenance of buildings and equipment, which are mostly outdated," he said. (41/emf)