Upscale `child-friendly clinic' opens in Kemang
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Seeing a doctor or a dentist can often be a horrendous experience for kids given the stereotype of a physician holding a syringe ready to give a painful shot in the arm or a dentist bending over to yank out a bad tooth.
Not to mention that most pediatricians' waiting rooms in the city are cramped with parents and their children waiting their turn for a simple chat with the doctor.
In an attempt to facilitate children, the management of the Cikal Sehat-sehat children's clinic and development center on Jl. Kemang Raya in South Jakarta provides a more child-friendly environment, encouraging children not to be afraid of going to see the doctor.
One quickly notices the special atmosphere with the walls decorated with the sort of pictures that most children adore. And the colors are ones that you will never see in a conventional clinic or hospital.
"In fact, we are trying to eliminate those scary images by not using cold tones, especially white," said the clinic director, Hani Wirahadikusumah, on the sidelines of the clinic's opening ceremony on Sunday.
"A clinic or hospital, of course, has to be sterile, but it does not necessarily have to be white."
She also said that none of the nurses or employees wore white uniforms so as to avoid creating scary images of health professionals.
On Sunday, most of the nurses were wearing blue and white aprons similar to those worn in fast food restaurants in Hollywood movies.
To provide an even friendlier atmosphere, the clinic also has a children's playground where the children can have fun while waiting their turn to see the doctor.
Aimed at children of up to 12 years old from middle and upper income-bracket families, the clinic charges between Rp 100,000 and Rp 150,000 (US$11.25 to $16.85) for a visit to the pediatrician.
"The higher charge is for a specialist pediatrician such as a hematologist or a nutritionist," said Hani.
"There are pediatricians available everyday, except Sunday, from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. to ensure satisfaction for the patients and their parents."
She said that there were simply too many patients queuing in most children's clinics or pediatricians' examination rooms.
"Such long queues force the doctors to limit the amount of time they can devote to each patient, while generally most parents have a lot of questions to ask about the well-being of their children," said Hani.
Hani explained that her clinic provided a one-stop service as it also had child psychologists, dentists and physiotherapists on call.
"We also have our own dispensary and cooperate with another clinic in running a laboratory."
This way, she said, the management would not have to worry about competition from similar clinics.
"Parents tend to want to do their best for their children, so I don't think we will run out of patients," said Hani.
She was confident that the market was still wide open for anyone who had the resources to set up such an integrated clinic.
Hani was initially reluctant to reveal the investment involved in setting up the clinic, but finally admitted that it was "a little over Rp 1 billion".