RSCM’s Century-old Metamorphosis
A number of units at RSCM at 1 p.m. on Monday at around were packed by visitors. At some polyclinics, outpatients and their families were waiting for their turn to be treated.
The corridor between Building H and Building A of Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM), Jakarta, was teeming with people lining up for medical treatment. Several nurses were pushing stretchers with patients receiving an intravenous.
A number of units at RSCM at 1 p.m. on Monday at around were packed by visitors. At some polyclinics, outpatients and their families were waiting for their turn to be treated.
Long lines were also seen at pharmacies. Hesti, 47, a resident of Bogor regency, West Java, for instance, had been accompanying her child, who has an autoimmunity disorder, for therapy since before 7 a.m.
“Consulting the doctor is fast, lining up for drugs is longer,” said Hesti, a participant of the National Health Insurance-Healthy Indonesia Card (JKN-KIS) program.
Consulting the doctor is fast, lining up for drugs is longer.
Over the last year, she has been accompanying her child to RSCM for medical care. She has had to line up several times from morning to afternoon for examinations because of the late arrivals of medical records at the polyclinic. Nonetheless, she feels grateful that her child is gradually recovering.
“In the beginning, my child was unable to walk. Now, she can walk again,” she said.
In another corridor last weekend, Padmi, 35, and her relatives were sitting around three meal boxes. Padmi was heard telling her younger sister to give her a kerok (skin scraping) on the neck.
“I’m tired from lack of sleep last night, waiting for the patient transfer in the ordinary ward. It was full,” said Padmi, whose child was treated for an autoimmune illness. As a JKN-KIS patient, she hoped her child could get good medical care.
Hesti and Padmi are only two of the hundreds of thousands of people who are hoping for the recovery of their family members treated at RSCM. On Tuesday, the national referral hospital turned 100 years old.
During that time, countless patients from across Indonesia and with various ailments have been treated at the hospital.
“As a national referral hospital, we are obliged to receive patients who cannot be handled in all classes of hospitals. If, for example, they find no other way, they usually come straight to RSCM with disorders that are considerably in need of treatment at the Intensive Care Unit [ICU],” said RSCM president director Lies Dina Liastuti.
Founded in 1919, RSCM was designed to serve the public and at the same time, promote medical education in Indonesia. This hospital has changed its name several times. Originally it was Centrale Burgerlijke Ziekenhuis (CBZ), sharing the same compound with STOVIA, the medical college of the time.
As a national referral hospital, we are obliged to receive patients who cannot be handled in all classes of hospitals.
This combination was mutually complementary; it was easier for STOVIA to acquire patients needed for education, while CBZ had easier access to specialists for health service.
In 1942, when Indonesia was occupied by the Japanese, this hospital changed its name to Ika Daiku Byongin or College Hospital, which later changed to Roemah Sakit Oemoem Negeri (RSON) in 1945 and RS Umum Pusat in 1950. It was officially named Rumah Sakit Tjipto Mangunkusumo in 1964.
Today, various developments have taken place. From serving only 300 patients at first, now RSCM handles around 4,000 outpatients daily. Different supporting facilities are available, from ICUs, outpatient and inpatient service, diagnostic units like laboratories and radiology units, as well as operation units like those for surgery, radio therapy, integrated heart treatment services and invitro fertilization.
Now, RSCM also operates the Kencana executive service for general patients. The Kencana building looks clean and neatly arranged with air conditioning. A number of visitors are sitting on sofas on the ground floor of the building.
Breakthroughs
Some new breakthroughs have also been made at RSCM. There are, for instance, stem cell therapies, robotics for prostate services, invitro fertilization, liver transplants, kidney transplants and non-surgery interventions.
Lies said the development of innovations would be carried on in order to diversify and facilitate public services.
“We only want to emphasize the values we are convinced of, which are to extend help and offer the best to society,” she said.
The international accreditation secured by RSCM is not merely for global recognition, but also for the assurance that its entire service is well standardized. This international standard service is provided for all patients.
Through the international accreditation, a lot more world citizens will also entrust their health to Indonesia. System improvement has become RSCM’s priority over the short and medium terms ahead. The expansion of ICU services, now with only 68 beds, is expected to be realized for service escalation. The strengthening of hospitals fostered by RSCM is encouraged so that many patients with certain complaints can be handled earlier.
A University of Indonesia Medical School forensic and medico-legal professor, Budi Sampurna, expressed his pride in RSCM’s achievements. Its service quality as well as educational development and research have made rapid progress. RSCM’s human resources also become the prized resources of the international world.
However, funding support for its research and technological development should be increased. It is his hope that cooperation with the private sector will be more open so as to facilitate improvements and innovations. The face of the realms of health and medicine in Indonesia is apparent in the metamorphosis of this hospital in the last century.