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South Sulawesi prepares free hospital care
As part of its program to provide free healthcare for residents in the low-income bracket, South Sulawesi administration is planning to build a new 1,000-bed hospital in Makassar
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As part of its program to provide free healthcare for residents in the low-income bracket, South Sulawesi administration is planning to build a new 1,000-bed hospital in Makassar.
The hospital, to be named Sayang Rakyat (Love the People), will utilize the former site of a training center for teachers, covering a total area of around 5 hectares, in Bulorokeng village in the Makassar's Biringkanaya district.
South Sulawesi Health Agency head Rahmat Latief said preparations for the new hospital (on a site which had not been used for years) would be conducted in two stages.
"The first stage, expected to be complete by the end of this year, consists of the construction of the policlinic, offices and rooms with a combined capacity of 500 beds, as well as the procurement of medical equipment," Rahmat said.
"Our target is to have the hospital up and running before December this year," Rahmat said Sunday during the site inspection of Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
The first stage of the hospital is expected to cost Rp 27.1 billion (US$2.45 million), Rahmat said, adding that this amount would be funded under the state budget and South Sulawesi regional budget.
The procurement of the 500 beds for the hospital would be conducted privately by the Kalla. All beds were already available, Rahmat said.
The second stage would not be ready until 2010, he said, adding another 500 beds to the hospital, as well as several new buildings and supporting facilities, costing an estimated Rp 51.9 billion.
South Sulawesi deputy governor Agus Arifin Nu'mang said the free hospital project was part of the administration's program to meet the community's basic right to free healthcare.
The new hospital will be used as a referral hospital for patients from all regions throughout South Sulawesi, especially for patients of the third class or C type.
During his visit, Kalla said it was hoped that this hospital would protect the welfare of the community. Health, coupled with education constitute major factors in maintaining the welfare of the community, he said.
However, Kalla also said that the health of the community would not necessarily be improved by this hospital alone, but that general hygiene and maintaining a clean environment would. For this reason, he said, improving the health of the community needs to start by keeping our environment clean.
"I just hope that hospitals in this area, including the one under construction, will have a low occupancy. Cities with crowded hospitals are a reflection of the poor condition of public health in those areas," he said.
Kalla also promised to help provide more funding for the development of the free hospital, aside from the procurement of the 500 beds.
![A man walks across a pedestrian crossing near a billboard depicting named Iranian ballistic missiles in service, with text in Arabic reading “the honest [person's] promise“ and in Persian “Israel is weaker than a spider's web“, in Valiasr Square in central Tehran on April 15, 2024. Iran on April 14 urged Israel not to retaliate militarily to an unprecedented attack overnight, which Tehran presented as a justified response to a deadly strike on its consulate building in Damascus.](https://img.jakpost.net/c/2024/04/16/2024_04_16_149344_1713260233._medium.jpg)
