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Hospital failed dead baby
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Rudianto Simanjorang (left) and Henny Silalahi (right) feel deep sorrow following the death of their baby daughter, Tiara Deborah Simanjorang, on Sept. 3. (Kompas.com/File)
T
he Jakarta Health Agency alleged on Monday that Mitra Keluarga Hospital in Kalideres, West Jakarta, did not follow proper procedures when organizing the treatment of a four-month-old baby that subsequently died.
The death of the patient, Tiara Deborah Simanjorang, on Sept. 3 has attracted nationwide attention as the hospital reportedly refused to transfer the baby, who suffered from severe breathing difficulties, from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) because her parents could not pay the required advance payment.
The practice of asking for advance payments prior to providing treatment is commonplace in Indonesia, including Mitra Keluarga, one of the largest hospital chains in the country.
The hospital asked Deborah’s parents, Rudianto Simanjorang and Henny Silalahi, to pay up front Rp 11 million (US$835.68) of the total Rp 19.8 million required to treat her in the PICU although the parents only had Rp 5 million on hand at that time.
The 2009 Health Law stipulates that in an emergency a health center, public or private, is obliged to provide medical treatment to save a patient’s life or to prevent any physical disabilities.
The law emphasizes the emergency obligation by forbidding a health center from rejecting a patient on the basis of a failure to make an advance payment.
From a preliminary investigation of the case, Jakarta Health Agency head Koesmedi Priharto said Deborah could have been treated as she had national health insurance (JKN), from which the hospital could seek reimbursement for treatment provided.
