RI-UAE Government Builds Heart Hospital In Surakarta

Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin (center), Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Indonesia Abdulla Salem Obaid Al Dhaheri (second right) in the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Kardiology Hospital in Surakarta (ANTARA/HO-Kemenkes)

JAKARTA - The Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) built a Cardiological Hospital (RS) in Surakarta City, Central Java to overcome heart problems as the number one cause of death in Indonesia.

The laying of the first stone or groundbreaking for the construction of the hospital was carried out by the Indonesian Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin and the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Indonesia Abdulla Salem Obaid Al Dhaheri on Monday (27/11).

"It (cardiac disease, ed.) is the disease that causes the most deaths in Indonesia and we lack health facilities to treat heart and stroke," said Minister of Health Budi as quoted by ANTARA.

The Minister of Health said the death rate due to heart disease can be suppressed if the patient gets treatment faster. Patients with heart disease have the possibility of recovering more than 90 percent if they get treatment for less than four hours.

However, he continued, inadequate facilities can cause patient treatment to be delayed or more than four hours. As a result, the patient's life may not be saved.

"So indeed the speed of handling is very decisive and the complete facilities that must be owned are quite a lot," he said.

The Minister of Health emphasized that adequate health facilities must also be accompanied by the availability of adequate health human resources (HR).

"Therefore, we have to produce more doctors. We are now making sure that specialist doctor education must be even better and easier. That is what we want to reform now," he said.

Representing the UAE Government, Ambassador Abdulla Salem Obaid Al Dhaheri said the Kardiology Hospital would be the first modern hospital in Indonesia to be equipped with advanced technology and innovative health care models.

"I want to take this opportunity to invite the public and the private sector from the two countries to explore the potential of joint investment projects in the health service sector for this very important humanity," he said.

This Kardiological Hospital was built on land owned by the Surakarta City Government, which is located in Jebres Village, Jebres District. The UAE government will bear all construction costs for hospital construction. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government was asked to manage hospital operations after the construction process was completed.

This Kardiology Hospital facility includes outpatient facilities consisting of 10 consultation rooms and four observation and monitoring rooms, as well as an inpatient room consisting of a presidential suite, a VIP room bed, a public care room, and an isolation room.

There are also operating room facilities consisting of three operating rooms, oneUNGry care unit, PICU, NICU, ICU, and unit service data. Furthermore, the ER is equipped with nine beds, a triage room, a resuscitation room, observation room, action room, and isolation room.

This Kardiology Hospital will implement the concept of sustainable buildings such as using solar panels as the main energy source, having rainwater reservoirs, and committing to efforts to reduce carbon. Therefore, hospital buildings will also implement the concept of green buildings.