Doctors question hospital plan for Thousand Islands

Leony Aurora, Jakarta

Medical staff are questioning the Thousand Islands regency administration's plan to build a hospital in Pramuka island, saying that it will be too expensive, hence impractical, to maintain.

One, who wishes to remain anonymous, said on Wednesday that since Pramuka is located in the middle section of the islands, the hospital would only be able to cater for the needs of the inhabitants of the northern islands, such as Panggang, Harapan and Kelapa islands.

"People in the southern islands will go to Banten, as it is closer and will be sure to find doctors there," he said.

Another member has also questioned whether specialists would be willing to take up positions on the island and whether the administration could afford their salaries.

Head of the regency's health agency Sugandi said that the Jakarta Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda) had given a green light to the construction of a type D hospital, which would be equipped with pediatric, maternity and surgical patient care facilities, an internist and 20 beds for patients.

"We need the hospital as it is difficult to get to the mainland in bad weather," said Sugandi. The plan would be submitted this year and hopefully the construction could start in 2005, he added.

The hospital, whose construction will be funded by the Jakarta administration, would also have a decompression chamber for patients suffering from decompression sickness, according to Sugandi.

Decompression sickness is a syndrome that occurs when divers or fishermen, if they swim up from the depths of the sea to the surface too quickly, experience a rapid change in water pressure, which may cause a part of their body to become paralyzed.

This condition can be permanent if patients are placed in a decompression chamber, where, little by little, higher pressure will be reapplied and then lowered again to normal air pressure, thus reversing the paralysis.

The regency's waters are well-known as an attraction for divers and underwater adventurers.

"It would be more efficient to build a decompression chamber at one of the existing public health centers," said a medical staff member.

There are six public health centers in the regency, in Panggang, Kelapa, Harapan, Tidung, Lancang and Untung Jawa islands.

Even though only one public health center has a proper room for inpatients, most of them can and do accommodate patients, as it is very expensive to take patients to Jakarta or Banten by boat.