Hospital service suffering

When my elder son received a minor head injury, we were referred to the International Bintaro Hospital (RSIB) for a CT- Scan by the pediatrician.

Before going to the hospital on Saturday morning (Jan. 30, 1999), I called its information desk to see whether they accepted Amex cards for payment. Unfortunately, my phone call was transferred several times, before being answered by a lady. Strangely, she did not give any firm answer, but hung the phone up. It happened again on my second attempt to call the hospital, as I was transferred several times, before ending up with the same lady. And she hung up the phone this time too. As my son badly needed to have the CT-Scan, I called the hospital a third time. I immediately told the receptionist not to transfer my call any further, and asked whether the hospital could accept Amex card. He confirmed that they could accept the card for payments.

We rushed to the hospital immediately. At the information counter, a receptionist referred us to the clinic registration section. After waiting for quite some time there, unfortunately, the lady at the registration desk informed us that we were at the wrong registration counter, and then escorted us to radiology registration on the other side of the building.

When we registered at this counter, we discovered that the hospital could not in fact accept Amex, and we were asked to pay by other means. Although we explained that the information desk confirmed that we could pay by card, the lady could not help, nor did she try to apologize in any way.

After registering, we were asked to wait for some time, before being asked to enter the radiology area, where we waited further for the CT-Scan. However, fortune was not on our side that day. When seated in front of the CT-Scan room, my other son was injured by some nails sticking out from the chair he sat on. We called for the staff, but they did not make any attempt to help. I reminded them that radiology was next to the emergency room, which should have a first aid kit of some sort.

Then a man came in to see what had happened. However, he also did not try to help my wounded son or try to apologize, but was very defensive, saying that such accidents from chairs were extremely rare. Is that the service to be expected from a person I later discovered was a physician, and also part of the hospital's management team?

I would advise those who plan to visit the International Bintaro Hospital to think twice.

FERDY MADIAN

Jakarta