Sick and Tired? Come to Bali.
Bali Governor Commits to US$34 Million International Hospital Project to be Opened in 2013.
Bali News: Sick and Tired? Come to Bali.
(8/7/2011)
Bali’s governor is urging that Bali build an international standard hotel to support the island’s growing tourism trade.
Beritabali.com quotes governor Pastika as saying on Friday, August 8, 2011, that the current range of hospitals operating in Bali are incapable of providing international standard medical care. Said Pastika: “At this time we medical tourists to Bali, but (people) don’t even want to go to Jakarta. So, look for yourself at our abilities, are we up to it? Why do people still want to go overseas (for medical treatment)? It's because the current hospitals don’t have the same capabilities.”
Kompas.com quotes the governor separately as confirming that a new international hospital costing Rp. 300 billion (US$34 million) will be built on the Ngurah Rai Bypass near Denpasar. The new hospital is targeted by the governor to be operational in time for the 2013 Asia Pacific Economic Summit.
The governor is optimistic that an international standard hospital in Bali will increase tourism flows and prove a valuable source of revenues for the provincial government.
The governor has said that a professional party would be found to manage the new hospital facility.
Who Will Manage Bali’s New Hospital?
The Dean of the medical faculty at Bali’s Udayana University, Professor Dr. Ketut Suastika has reacted to the news, warning it will not be easy manage an international standard hospital in Bali.
Quoted in the Bali Post, Dr. Suastika says running a hospital is not as simple as running a hotel. He cited the difficulties of staffing a hotel, especially training doctors and paramedics able to deliver high quality medical care. Add to this the need to equip any hospital with the latest in equipment and medical technology.
Dr. Suastika believes that Bali already has a more than sufficient number of hospital beds with shortages of beds only occuring on a seasonal basis occasioned by cyclical peaks in dengue fever cases.
The medical educator feels the government should avoid building new hospitals and instead focus on working with existing hospitals to improve service and the quality of medical care.
Dr. Suastika also told the press that Udayana University continues to build a teaching hospital on it Jimbaran campus. Construction of the campus-based hospital is slated to be completed in 2012 and is targeted to include special sections specializing in infectious disease and travel medicine.
Source: Bali Discovery