With her left eye bandaged, she was waiting to proceed with cost relief for the retinal reattachment surgery she had a few days earlier.

The resident of Condet, East Jakarta, was amid a crowded corridor of people who were also waiting to register. Doctors stomped hurriedly while patients were dragged on their wheelchairs or their mobile beds.

She said it was complicated to prepare documents to apply for cost relief and the queue was lengthy.

However, Tumpi said the efforts were worthwhile as it would reduce her surgery payment by 50 percent to Rp 6 million (US$638). She added it was only in the hospital that she could hope to recover her eyesight.

"I had several treatments earlier in Budi Asih *hospital near her house*, but they finally gave up saying that they didn't have the equipment for my surgery," the 44-year-old housewife said Wednesday.

As the biggest state-owned hospital in the country, Cipto Mangunkusumo fell victim to its own glory in medical advancements. Thousands of patients flocked from in and outside of the city to receive treatment they could not receive elsewhere.

It has clinics and various analysis centers that are usually unavailable at other hospitals, like diabetic foot clinic, geriatric disease clinic and polyclinics for various skin diseases.

In the past few years, the hospital recorded an average of 2,000 out-patients per day, 60 to 70 percent of whom were patients from poor families. With a total capacity of 900 hospital beds, it caters for 4,000 in-patients per year.

Thousands of patients are rejected everyday. On Wednesday, patients had to be treated in the registration room of the hospital's emergency unit due to lack of room.

Patients and their relatives who cannot get rooms but have to run regular checkups for their illnesses often rent a room at the hospital-provided four-storey building that serves as a temporary residence.

Liliek Sujono, 82, who has emphysema, said she regularly came to the hospital to check her condition.

"The hospital is the only hospital that has geriatric center and can conduct MRI for me. Other hospitals don't have all these services."

Liliek said the services were not cheap. As she came from a middle-class family, she said she was planning to apply to join state-owned health insurance company PT Askes to get discounts on her treatments.

Kholilah, 37, another patient who suffered from an unidentified skin disease, said she found the hospital gave the best treatment for her.

"I was treated at UKI hospital *in East Jakarta*, but the disease returned. Only this clinic could give me medicine for my skin."

She said she came without references from the previous hospital.

Head of the Indonesian Healthcare Consumers Foundation Marius Widjajarta said people did not go to RSCM due to decent health care.

"The doctors still treat their patients poorly and the *hospital* management is still not transparent in allocating beds for patients."

He said patients went to the hospital because of its long reputation of high concentration of specialists and advanced medical equipment.

After suffering poor health care services at hospitals for decades, he said, people in this country eventually had built the perception that RSCM as the biggest national hospital should resolve everything.

"Actually other hospitals are also improving. It may be a while before people realize it."

Popular

Trump’s decision to bomb Iran exposes fissures in US politics

Israel says Iran violates ceasefire announced by Trump, orders new strikes

Indonesia, Germany see new programs for migrant workers training