Patients confused about free care

Patients confused about free care

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Although the city administration has urged city-run hospitals to
prioritize dengue fever patients and provide them with free-of-
charge medical services, at city-run Budhi Asih Hospital in East
Jakarta, many patients and relatives were poorly informed of the
free service.

"We have heard about the free treatment on television, but we
are confused if it's really free of charge or if we have to pay
for the medicine. I made a Rp 200,000 (US$24) deposit when my son
was admitted here two days ago," said Ribka, from Cawang, East
Jakarta.

Parents of other patients in the hospital's Dahlia Room were
also uninformed of the free service. Some had even lost their
receipts for their deposits and the medicine they had bought.
They did not know that they would be reimbursed if they showed
the receipts to the hospital administration.

"I didn't know the receipts would be useful, so I just put
them away somewhere. The hospital staff never told me that the
treatment was free and that we could reclaim our money," said
Nelci Manulaga, a mother from Kampung Makassar, East Jakarta.

The increasing number of dengue fever patients, however, have
forced new patients to be admitted to Class 2 rooms, which are
not free of charge, because the free Class 3 rooms are full.

"We have informed new dengue fever patients that they don't
have to pay for treatment in Class 3 rooms. However, if they want
to be treated in Class 2 rooms, we will charge them in full,"
said Dr. Hot S. Hutagalung, the Dahlia Room head doctor.

He admitted that the hospital administration staffers had yet
to inform patients who were admitted earlier about the free-of-
charge treatment, saying that they had been extremely busy.

"We plan to inform each patient when they are nearing
release," he said.

Hutagalung confirmed that one more dengue fever patient died
on Tuesday night, bringing the death toll at the hospital to
eight.

"Currently, the hospital is treating 79 dengue fever patients,
including 12 new cases admitted this morning. Since January, we
have treated 264 patients with dengue fever," he said, adding
that more and more patients were admitted each day.

Tanah Abang Community Health Center head Dr. Benny Patuwo said
2,963 Jakartans had contracted the disease, and 26 had died.

"The trend is not on the decline yet. Records from every city-
run hospital and community health center show that the number of
people with dengue fever remains high.

"In West Jakarta alone, Tarakan Hospital is receiving three to
four patients every day. This hospital has had to transfer many
of its patients to Cengkareng Hospital, the only city-run
hospital able to accommodate new dengue fever patients," he said.

"Our health center has a similar admission rate," he added.

Benny said earlier that the frantic clean-up drives and
neighborhood fumigation would do little to stem the disease if
people ignored the dangers of the disease until a family member
died.

Rudy, a resident of Cawang, East Jakarta, said residents had
never been told by health officers to empty vessels with standing
water.

"My son contracted the disease last year, but I was unaware
even then that we should have eliminated those conditions in our
neighborhoods that provide nesting sites for the mosquitoes," he
said.