Int'l healthcare centers offer quality services

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

The spacious, air-conditioned room has wall-to-wall carpeting and is equipped with three 25-inch TVs, three telephones, two marble bathrooms, two refrigerators, two beds, sofas, a dining table with four chairs, a dressing table, two wardrobes, cabinets and some other furniture.

You might wonder whether it is a suite in a five-star hotel. But no, it is actually the presidential suite at the Siloam Gleneagles Hospital in Lippo Karawaci. With these sort of facilities, it is not surprising that the room rate is also similar to that of a deluxe hotel: Rp 3 million per night.

The hospital is one of a number of international healthcare centers in Greater Jakarta. Others include Mitra International Hospital in East Jakarta, Bintaro International Hospital in Tangerang, International SOS clinics in Cipete and Kuningan, South Jakarta, and Global Doctor clinic in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

The Siloam Gleneagles Hospital was established here in 1996 as a joint venture between PT Lippo Land Development and Gleneagles Development Pte, Ltd, a subsidiary of the Singapore-based Parkway Holdings. In 2002, the second Siloam Gleneagles Hospital opened in Lippo Cikarang. Two other hospitals later joined the Siloam healthcare group: Siloam Graha Medika Hospital, followed by Siloam Sumber Waluyo Hospital in Surabaya.

The room rates at the Siloam Gleneagles Hospital in Lippo Karawaci start from Rp 100,000 for a third class room, while a VIP room costs Rp 850,000, a super VIP room Rp 975,000, an executive room Rp 1,975,000, a suite Rp 2.5 million and the presidential suite Rp 3 million per night.

At Mitra International Hospital, the rates range between Rp 70,000 and Rp 900,000, while at Bintaro International Hospital they range from Rp 80,000 to Rp 1.1 million.

Both Mitra International Hospital and Bintaro International Hospital are affiliated to Affinity Health of Australia. Mitra International Hospital was established in 1989, while Bintaro International was set up in 1998.

International healthcare centers have opened here to serve patients based on high standards and sophisticated technology in cooperation with foreign counterparts. Each of the medical centers, however, may offer different services. Siloam Gleneagles Hospital in Lippo Karawaci, for example, has a neuro science center, a heart, lung and vascular center, and an eye clinic; the Siloam Graha Medika Hospital has a urology center, a fertility center, an obstetrics and gynecology center and a gastro- enterology center. The Siloam Sumber Waluyo Hospital in Surabaya has a fertility center, while a trauma center is set to open in the Siloam Gleneagles Hospital in Lippo Cikarang.

The neuro science center, which has affiliated with the Fujita Health University in Japan and National Neuro Science Institute in Singapore, diagnoses and treats various deviations in neurology and brain blood vessels. To accelerate the process of treatment after surgery, the hospital has established the Siloam Stroke Club, which currently has 80 members. Every Saturday, members of the club conduct activities with support from the medical rehabilitation team, doctors and other medical staff of the hospital.

The Mitra International Hospital provides four premium integrated medical services -- heart center, a neurology center, a urology center and a gastrology center.

Some hospitals also have aesthetics centers for those who want to look better. The Siloam Gleneagles Hospital in Lippo Karawaci for example, offers facial care, facial treatment and facial rejuvenation, while the Bintaro International Hospital helps those who want to become slimmer through liposuction.

All hospitals offer various medical checkup services. The Bintaro International Hospital offers not only general medical checkups, but also checkup packages for those who are going to get married, those who want to go on the haj and for employment purposes.

The Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Lippo Karawaci offers seven executive checkup packages. The basic one costs Rp 500,000, while the most expensive one is Emerald Plus, which is priced at Rp 6.3 million. Two other packages on offer are the pre-marital checkup and medical checkup for children.

Medical checkups are important as diseases like cancer, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, liver disease and heart disease can be prevented or cured with early detection.

If you are sick but do not want to go to the hospital, you can ask Global Doctor to send a doctor to your place. This, however, comes at a cost of Rp 1.2 million per visit.

Global Doctor, which is based on the family doctor concept, started operating here early in the 2000s. At the beginning, it served mostly expatriates, but now almost half of its patients are Indonesians from the middle and upper income brackets.

"We have nine doctors who are ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Global Doctor's general manager, Rama T. Muskita.

All of the doctors are general practitioners and they will refer the patient to a specialist, if necessary. Global Doctor, which also operates in China and Thailand, is part of a global network and collaborates with various hospitals and specialists from around the world. It also handles medical evacuations for patients who need treatment abroad.

This, however, does not mean that Global Doctor will always refer a patient to a specialist or a hospital abroad. "We also have many good doctors in Indonesia," said Muskita.

Global Doctor last year introduced a membership program that allows a member to have a free medical consultation at any time. The annual fee ranges between Rp 950,000 and Rp 9 million per person.