Visiting Saudi Arabian Hospital, Gus Irfan: Some Pilgrims Still Being Forced to Leave Hospital

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MADINAH — The Indonesian Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Mochamad Irfan Yusuf, has expressed hope for an optimal communication mechanism regarding the transfer of Indonesian pilgrims from hospitals in Saudi Arabia. This step is taken as a concrete effort by the government to ensure that Indonesian pilgrims receive maximum healthcare services while in the Holy Land.

He acknowledged that there have been some communication challenges with several hospitals in Saudi Arabia that cooperate with the Indonesian government. Gus Irfan emphasised the need for more intensive communication patterns, especially regarding patient discharge procedures, coordination of referral medical records, and the flow of patient transfers to other healthcare facilities to avoid technical obstacles that harm pilgrims.

In some cases, Irfan said, there were patients whose condition was not yet optimal but were forced to leave the hospital. As a result, some time later, the pilgrims’ condition deteriorated again and they had to receive treatment again.

“We hope for faster communication. The hope is that every decision to discharge patients who still need medical treatment is made when their health condition is optimal,” said Irfan after making a strategic visit to Saudi German Hospital (SGH) in Madinah, Wednesday (3/6/2026).

The visit also became an important moment in strengthening cooperation between the two parties for the welfare of pilgrims. Gus Irfan revealed that the plan for cooperation with hospitals in Saudi Arabia has been running for the past year.

One of the main focuses is to explore the potential for deeper partnerships with Saudi German Hospital. “We realise that this collaboration is very crucial given the high mobility of Indonesian pilgrims performing the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia every year,” he said.