Hospital and down payment

Hospital and down payment

This is I'm afraid another cliche story of hospitals in
Indonesia, but still amusing anyway. You may have heard that:
without money, don't even think about entering a hospital in
Indonesia, no matter what condition you are in.

I never thought I would experience this rumor myself in the
near future. However, I fell over while covering a violent
demonstration in front of a political party office in Cikini,
several weeks ago and was taken to the nearest hospital by a
colleague. As a reporter for a broadcasting station, I do possess
generous health insurance.

My friend told me that my blood pressure was hardly measurable
and my heartbeat very weak. But still the hospital asked Rp 3
million as down payment before I could receive any treatment. So
I was abandoned for hours, without any doctors checking my
condition, before I could pay the money.

After some time my friend finally threatened staff from the
hospital's administration claiming that he would expose the
hospital's bad bureaucracy through the mass media if I were not
going to be treated soon. The hospital initiated treatment when a
guarantee letter was issued based on my journalist card.

Thank goodness I work for the mass media and the strength of
it scares off institutions and people. But this incident made me
think of thousands or maybe millions of less-fortunate
individuals who have been refused by hospitals because they could
not guarantee a certain amount of money when an accident occurs.
A friend of mine told me that his cousin, badly injured in a car
accident, was refused by three hospitals and nearly died when he
arrived at the fourth one. Fortunately, he could still be saved.

Well, hospitals should not take all the blame. There are also
stories of hospitals that have suffered major losses because
patients left without paying for their treatment. However,
hospitals are companies, not social institutions, even though
they work at providing health services to the community. They
should make money to continue operating.

But we are in an on-going economic crisis. More than 25
percent of the population have fallen below the poverty line,
which means about 50 million people. What if any of these people
became suddenly involved in an accident? Should they die
abandoned, just because of their lack of money? Is several
million rupiah worth more than a human's life?

The answer to these questions really shock me. And what makes
it more ironic is that not even 50 percent of hospitals could
guarantee that they could provide a service that is worth the
money. There are still many old hospital buildings, with long dim
wards and off-white walls and ceilings due to improper
maintenance. Hospital toilets also disgusted me. In fact, it is
my opinion that the unhygienic conditions of hospital toilets are
likely to spread disease faster than you could imagine.

CHADIJAH MASTURA

Jakarta