Psychiatric hospital loses patients

Psychiatric hospital loses patients

Only 70 of 315 patients at the psychiatric hospital in the
capital town of Banda Aceh stayed put, as hospital staff rushed
to open the gate wide so that patients could flee when the
tsunamis hit Aceh on Dec. 26.

"However, we believe they are all alive and now sheltering in
camps across town," said head of medical services at the hospital
Kris Wardoyo on Thursday.

As the hospital's five-meter wall was destroyed in the
disaster, staff members have to work extra hard to keep the
remaining patients there.

Despite the hospital's poor condition, its management plans to
open a trauma center run by foreign experts.

"The welfare of traumatized people is our priority ... The
number of traumatized Aceh residents may have doubled to up to 30
percent after the disaster, an increase from 17 percent of people
traumatized by the prolonged armed conflict," Kris said. (JP/Nani
Afrida)