Sodiqin, 59, was waiting for hours at Tarakan Hospital to meet with a specialist to discuss his diabetes.

His daughter-in-law Sutinah Sarbini said recently that she often accompanied Sodiqin to the hospital. “We have been here since 5 a.m. and have been waiting in a long line with hundreds of others for processing and to get my father’s number for the consultation and examination with the doctor.”

Sutinah attributed the slow service to the vast number of people seeking free healthcare at the city-owned general hospital under the Jakarta Health Card (KJS) program.

Sodiqin, a resident of Gunung Sahari, Central Jakarta, said that he has let his diabetes go untreated since it was diagnosed seven years ago due to the high cost of healthcare. “I have visited this hospital regularly for medication over the past two months because my condition has deteriorated. I have pains in my legs and back that need special medical rehabilitation from the hospital.”

An hospital representative who declined to be named to discuss the situation said that the hospital had been overwhelmed following the launch of the free healthcare program in November.

“The hospital is principally open to all Jakarta residents, mainly KJS holders, but it cannot accept all people due to its limited capacity,” the representative said. “The public hours for walk-in patients are from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., while the emergency room is open 24 hours a day – but we have to serve between 1,000 and 1,200 patients every day.”

The representative said that the hospital had received many complaints from patients due to its limited capacity.

Jusventina Sijabat, a cardiac patient at the hospital expressed her satisfaction with the program, which entitles recipients to free third-class medical service.

The 58-year-old compared the treatment she currently received to that under the Jamkesmas free healthcare scheme implemented by Fauzi Bowo when he was governor.

“The healthcare service and its quality under Jokowi is better, despite the daily overcrowding at the hospital,” she said.

“During my three-week stay at the hospital last month, I was given expensive salmon fish once a day —a good meal I could not receive at the other hospital.”

Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo paid a visit to the hospital on Wednesday to see one-week-old Dara Nur Anggraini, whose twin sister, Dera Nur Anggraini, died over the weekend after several hospitals denied her admission, citing the absence of neonatal intensive care facilities.

Jokowi reiterated his commitment to improving third-class healthcare service at state and private hospitals under the KJS program.

“There has been a 70 percent increase in the number of patients at third-class wards since the launch of the KJS,” he said. “Even today, the Tarakan Hospital’s third-class wards have been fully occupied. I’ve ordered that more third-class beds be added.”

Hospital service chief Theryoto said on Tuesday that all 640 of the hospital’s beds were currently occupied and overcrowded by low-income patients. He added that the hospital still offered maximum service to the public in accordance with its capacity and facilities.

“The hospital and its medical workers have an obligation to provide maximum service to all patients no matter of their social, economic, race and political backgrounds and we fully support the Jakarta government’s free healthcare program in accordance with our own capacity,” Theryoto said.

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