Indonesian hospitals

The new government hospital opening in early 2025 will serve as an important superhub in underserved parts of Indonesia, offering state-of-the-art and digitally-secure healthcare in furtherance of national goals

The positive news is that the government understands the pressing need to increase capacity in its healthcare system and is taking action.

The biggest challenges to achieving universal medical coverage in the country are geography and financing, as the population is spread out among 6,000 of its 17,508 islands. Exacerbating the logistical problems created by this geographical spread is a host of deep-seated structural problems, such as underfinancing, a shortage of primary care providers and hospitals, limited access to drugs in rural areas, and overall inaccessibility and inequity of care.

The positive news is that the government understands the pressing need to increase capacity in its healthcare system and is taking action. For example, backed by solid growth in healthcare spending and a positive economic outlook, the number of hospitals has grown and is expected to continue to rise even more in the coming years. That some private hospital groups in Indonesia plan to add three to four hospitals a year is also good news. But growth in the sector will also depend on the availability of qualified physicians and supporting medical teams, which will pose challenges.

MOH undertakings Beginning in 2023, Indonesia’ s Ministry of Health( MOH) established healthcare quality improvement as a key national priority, both to attract foreign medical tourists and convince locals to seek care domestically rather than overseas.

One of the biggest visions for change in the blueprint was the establishment of the Surabaya Vertical Hospital in East Java Province, a government-run hospital that was completed in late 2024 and designed to act as a health services superhub for Bali, East Nusa Tenggara( NTT), and West Nusa Tenggara( NTB). Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin remarked that the hospital was being built to help transform health services in Indonesia and support the MOH’ s programmes aimed at bringing equitable medical services to all regions of the country.

RS Kemenkes Surabaya, as it will be known, is the second hospital completed by the Indonesian construction company WIKA and was inaugurated by President Jokowi in 2024. A budget of Rp2.1 trillion( US $ 130 million) was spent on its construction, including medical equipment, on 5.24 hectares of land in Surabaya City.

The vertical hospital is expected to serve as a superhub for a number of different medical treatments. Consisting of four buildings, including a medical centre as the main building and three specialised wings for treating cancer, heart disease, stroke, and uronephrology, it stands as the largest and first Vertical Catastrophic UPT( Unit Pelayanan Terpadu) Hospital in Indonesia. UPT refers to hospitals under MOH management that offer complete central specialist and subspecialist services.

In addition to treatment, the government is planning to develop the facility as an educational hospital that functions as a centre for education, research, and health service development.

During a recent interview with Antara, Indonesia’ s national news agency, President Jokowi also emphasised the importance of the hospital’ s role in improving high-quality healthcare services to meet international standards, an achievement that could help dissuade Indonesians from seeking treatment abroad and thus saving up to IDR 180 trillion( US $ 12 million) annually.

dr Martha M. L Siahaan SH, MARS, MH. Kes, the Ministry of Health’ s Director of Health

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