Hospital turns away patients due to lack of space

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara

Prof. W.Z. Yohannes General Hospital in Kupang turned away on Monday people with dengue fever symptoms and diarrhea.

The hospital refuse them admittance due to a lack of space, said Frank Atow, a doctor at the public hospital, which is the biggest and best equipped in Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara.

"The patients keep coming, but we have only 269 beds, which are already full," he told The Jakarta Post.

With a dengue fever outbreak in the city, the hospital is treating more that 60 people for the illness.

Three people died last week due to dengue fever in Kupang municipality, and with the large number of people being treated for dengue at the hospital, there is concern that the number of fatalities could sharply increase.

Three other people died of dehydration caused by diarrhea in West Sabu subdistrict, Kupang regency.

Frank said on Monday that one more person died on the same day due to dengue fever, bringing the number of fatalities in the dengue outbreak in Kupang municipality to four.

"The victim was an infant," said Frank.

According to Frank, there have been outbreaks in at least 45 subdistricts in Kupang mayoralty. Dengue often breaks out at the beginning of the wet season, when torrential rain produces puddles that become breeding grounds for the aedes aegypty mosquito, which transmit dengue.

Several people complained about being turned away by the hospital.

"I'm sick and was advised by a community health center near my house to go to the hospital for further treatment.

"But it turns out that I have to find another hospital to accommodate me," said Pieter Rollis, who had symptoms of dengue fever.