Siloam HealthCare Group

Siloam HealthCare Group World-class medical care at affordable rates

Why do many Indonesians go to Singapore, Australia or other overseas countries for routine medical tests or treatment? The answer to this question is simple, these countries are thought to offer better doctors and better hospitals.

The trend towards using overseas medical services has, however, continued to decline in recent years thanks to the improvement in the medical services and healthcare offered by Indonesian hospitals.

Many hospitals here have now begun to adopt international standards for their services. Among these is the Siloam HealthCare Group, which operates four hospitals of international quality.

The four hospitals are the Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, Siloam Graha Medika Hospital, Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Lippo Cikarang, Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Surabaya.

There is also the Semanggi Specialist Clinic in Plaza Semanggi. All of these facilities are not only situated in convenient locations but also offer medical services on par with those provided by major international hospitals.

Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Lippo Karawaci is a hospital specializing in cardiology and neuro science while Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Lippo Cikarang, which is located near the Cikarang industrial area, specializes in accidents, emergency and trauma. The Siloam Graha Medika Hospital in Kebon Jeruk and Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Surabaya are well-known for their reproductive medicine services.

The new Semanggi Specialist Clinic in Plaza Semanggi, which opened in October, offers a full range medical specialities with the latest equipment and expertise, including Internal Medicine, ENT/THT, Cardiology, Ophthalmology, Stomatologist, Orthodontist, Dentist, Oral Surgeon, Dermatologist & Venerologist, Plastic Surgeon, and Clinical Nutrition. The inclusion of cosmetic and nutritional services caters to a growing trend within the Central Business District (CBD) areas where the clinic is located.

The Siloam HealthCare Group was formerly part of Gleneagles Singapore. "Now we are part of Lippo Karawaci and this has enable us to strengthen our focus on providing services and facilities of International standard" Walter Gilmore, CEO of the Siloam HealthCare Group.

The Siloam HealthCare Group has strong program for medical care services. It regularly send its medical and nursing specialists to Singapore and Australia to obtain international experience. At the same time, the hospital group also invites doctor and nurse from abroad to work in the hospital so as to ensure knowledge transfer. In fact, nearly 75 percent of the specialist working in the Siloam hospitals have overseas training experience.

With the rapid advance in medical technology, new skills are required to keep step with medical best practices. The Siloam team of Indonesian and expatriate medical specialist actively cooperate with the leading health institutions and organizations around the world to ensure we provide their hospitals and stuff with the latest research, literature and facilities to deliver leading training programs and practices.

As part of the medical care improvement program, the healthcare group, which provides scholarships for medical students to study in countries like Australia and Germany, has asked the specialist in different areas to work hand in hand with the nursing staff.

"We are really focusing on internationalizing Siloam HealthCare Group and we want to be the best in Indonesia, and as good as hospitals in Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand" Gilmore adds.

More than 200.000 Indonesians go to overseas for hospital care every year, spending US $ 600 million on medical services. According to Gilmore, many Indonesian go to overseas hospitals simply because they don't trust the quality and service of hospitals in Indonesia.

"That's why we should work extra hard to improve our quality so that people will have confidence in our services" he says. Julia McCaughan, Director of Clinical Improvement, said the Siloam HealthCare Group has a strong commitment to providing world-class healthcare services so that people will no longer need to go overseas for medical tests or treatment.

"If you have word-class medical services at home, why should you need to go overseas?" she ask. At present, the Siloam HealthCare Group is closely working on improvements to its education and training system, research and medical equipment.

"Improving quality takes some time but we are very positive because we are seeing positive results. Indonesian healthcare workers have the same passion for quality improvement. They want to improve. They want their patients to stay here and not go to Singapore," Gilmore says.

A number of quality improvement projects are underway. The Siloam Gleneagles Hospital Lippo Karawaci earlier this year installed the latest CT Scanner and MRI equipment, while the hospital in Lippo Cikarang has invested some Rp.4.5 billion on new medical equipment. In addition, the refurbishment of Siloam Graha Medika Hospital is currently underway.

The hospital group is now looking at possibility of setting up a cancer center here to provide Indonesian cancer patients with care of a world-class standard. To set up high quality, comprehensive care center would cost between US$12 million and US$14 million, most of which would go on medical equipment.

The Siloam HealthCare Group Hospitals use the most up-to-date medical equipment. In some respect, their medical equipment, buildings and facilities are even better than those provided by international hospitals in Singapore and Malaysia.

The opening of world-class hospitals such as those operated by Siloam HealthCare Group certainly offer more affordable options for Indonesians to access international standard medical services.

So, if you have world-class hospitals at home, why go overseas for checkups or treatment?