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