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)