TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Australia supports Bali new hospital
Change Size
International standard – Workers walk in front of the Bali Mandara Hospital construction project in Sanur, Denpasar, Bali. Construction of the province-owned hospital is targeted to be finished this year so the facility can open in 2017. (thejakartapost.com/Ni Komang Erviani)
A
ustralia will give support for the development of the new Bali Mandara hospital being constructed by the Bali administration in the Sanur area.
The Royal Darwin Hospital will be one of the Australian supporting team members dispatched to help develop the hospital so that it can reach international standards.
Royal Darwin Hospital representatives visited the hospital construction site in Sanur on Tuesday. Accompanied by Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, they gave suggestions regarding the construction of the project. The visit was a follow up of Pastika's visit to Darwin last month.
"For a long time, we, Bali and Darwin, have had a good relationship in developing healthcare. The governor [Pastika] came to Darwin recently and asked if we could work together to help develop the new provincial hospital here," Royal Darwin Hospital project director Di Brown said on Tuesday.
She added that the governor had invited her to give suggestions to help improve patient flow and the general operation of the hospital.
She said she was optimistic that Bali Mandara Hospital could equal the quality of the Royal Darwin Hospital. "Yes, that’s the plan: To make it as good as Darwin. And I think there are so many smart people in Bali. So I think it’s possible," said Brown, who is also a nursing education consultant for Australia's National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre (NCCTRC).
She said the role of the Royal Darwin Hospital in the collaboration might extend beyond that of a consultant. "I am just here to take a first look. And in the future, hopefully, we will have a more long-term relationship," Brown said.
Royal Darwin Hospital reportedly plans to give human resources training to the Bali hospital. "We will have to work out what the plan will be. But yes, at the moment, people from here would be going to Darwin and maybe in the future people from Darwin will come here. But we will work out what the plan will be for the ongoing support," Brown said.
Pastika said the provincial administration’s initial staff members would be sent to Royal Darwin Hospital to learn about the international standard of healthcare services and receive suggestions for the new hospital.
"Thus, we can receive concrete advice and suggestions. We want the Royal Darwin Hospital to become our benchmark, our partner for quality control and everything else. Since the beginning, we have aimed to reach the international standard, and the closest international hospital is Royal Darwin Hospital and they are willing to help us," Pastika said.
The Bali Mandara Hospital is built on a 2.95-hectare plot of land in Sanur and will be able to accommodate 176 inpatients. The hospital construction costs around Rp 200 billion (US$15.09 million) and will be funded from the 2015 and 2016 provincial annual budget. In the budget revision that will take place in the middle of the year, the province will allocate another Rp 100 billion for basic equipment and Rp 8 billion for interior design. The hospital is expected to open next year.
Pastika said the Royal Darwin Hospital was the best choice as a reference of international standards as Bali had a long relationship with the institution. After the Bali Bombing tragedy, many victims were evacuated to the hospital.
The Royal Darwin Hospital has approximately 363 beds, more than 1700 staff members and provides a broad range of services in all specialty areas to the Darwin urban population as well as serving as a referral centre to the Top End of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South-East Asia. The Top End population serviced by the hospital is approximately 150,000.
The Royal Darwin Hospital is the largest teaching hospital in the Northern Territory and is also recognized as Australia's National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre. The hospital won international recognition for its role in the retrieval, treatment and transfer of victims of the 2002 Bali bombings. Within 62 hours of the blasts, medical staff had resuscitated 61 patients including 20 intensive care patients, and evacuated 48 patients to burns centers around Australia. Royal Darwin Hospital again treated more than 20 victims following the second Bali bombings in October 2005 and in 2006 treated victims evacuated from East Timor.
Pastika said that the Royal Darwin Hospital’s strong emergency system, which is integrated with the police and fire brigade emergency response systems, was one thing that the Bali hospital could learn from.
The governor said the provincial administration planned to send young doctors to learn about emergency care services at the Royal Darwin Hospital and Charles Darwin Hospital.
However, Pastika said he did not yet know where all the money to complete the hospital would come from, but that it might be taken from the annual budget.
The Bali Mandara Hospital will also include an integrated cancer treatment center with facilities for radiodiagnostics, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine. The new hospital is expected to be on par with other cancer treatment center such as Dharmais Hospital in Jakarta and Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung.
A therapy center for the elderly is also part of the plan. As many pensioners from across the world opt to spend their time in Bali, the hospital is expected to provide a quality service for them. To meet the demand for alternative medicine, the hospital will also contain health spa facilities, a traditional herbal treatment center and an acupuncture therapy service. (ebf)
