When a patient walks into the newly opened Mayapada Hospital in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta, they are more likely to feel as if they have just walked into a hotel or an office building rather than a hospital. Patients are graciously welcomed at the entrance of the hospital where on-duty doctors examine them before they are directed to a specific health center on the premises.

“What make us unique are our centers. From the registration process through the final examination, everything is done at the center they have been directed to,” said Hengky Setiono, Mayapada healthcare CEO, after the soft-opening ceremony on Tuesday.

“Patients do not have to go back and forth to different areas of the hospital,” he added.

The hospital will start serving patients on Wednesday.

The hospital’s CEO, Ninuk Lenywati, said that 11 centers offered various health services in the 12-story hospital. There is a cardiovascular center, gastrointestinal center, oncology center, urology center and aesthetic center.

“The centers are equipped with high-tech medical equipment, handled professionally by our medical staff,” she said.

For example, she said, in the neurology center, the hospital was equipped with the necessary equipment to perform an electroencephalogram (EEG) test, which measures and records electrical activity of the brain, and an  Electroretinography (ERG) test, which is used to detect abnormal functions of the retina.

All patients will be handled by a total of 150 doctors. The 50,000 square-meter hospital has a total of 243 beds. Twelve percent of the third-class is allocated for economically disadvantaged patients.

“When patients come here, we want to give them the right to be diagnosed,” Ninuk said.

Hengky said that the hospital was also working with Singapore’s National Healthcare Group (NHG), which is known for its management of several famous hospitals in Singapore.

“We are bringing the best technology from abroad here and are providing international-standard services. I hope that Indonesians who usually go abroad for medical treatment can find that we have everything here,” he said.  

“We also hope to welcome foreign nationals here.”

Receiving medical treat abroad has become common practice for many Indonesians.

Competitive hospital fees in Malaysia have also attracted more and more Indonesians.

Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi also said that according to the National Healthcare group International Research Development in Singapore, 50 percent of the total international patients in Singapore are Indonesians.

The number of Indonesians seeking medical treatment abroad last year saw a significant increase from 2006, when nearly 350,000 people went overseas and spent US$500 million.

Last year alone, around 600,000 Indonesians spent a total of $1.4 billion on medical treatment overseas.

The high number of people traveling abroad has also prompted several tour operators to offer specially tailored packages for patients. Hospitals in Malaysia and Singapore work with reputable travel agencies and hotels to provide comprehensive tour packages along with healthcare services.

Looking at the trend, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu once said that there was an opportunity to develop health tourism in the country to spur the economy.

In December of last year, the Health Ministry and the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry signed an agreement for the development of health tourism, which is now considered one of the engines for economic growth in the Asia Pacific.

Under the agreement, the government will work with its public and private stakeholders, including hospital representatives, spa providers, and health associations, to create the Indonesia Wellness and Healthcare Tourism (IWHT) working team, which will jointly design a work plan to follow up on the agreement.

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