Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

The Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital Indonesia had its grand opening on June 14, 2021. It has about 520 beds and is the first general hospital in Indonesia to perform bone marrow stem cells transplants. It also provides internal medicine, surgical, pediatric, and gynecological services.

During these critical times of the pandemic, Tzu Chi volunteers and the staff of the Hospital are actively taking the responsibility to safeguard life in Indonesia. One floor of the building is a dedicated pandemic prevention center designed to relieve the overwhelming suffering in Jakarta. This is completely in line with Tzu Chi hospital’s original mission.

The day before the opening, Tzu Chi volunteers held the Medicine Buddha ritual to give blessings to the patients who will be admitted. They hope that all patients will return home safely and healthily after coming to the hospital for treatment.

The first patient of the hospital was a pregnant woman, Mita, who was infected with COVID. Twenty-five-year-old Mita has been married for many years and has wanted to be a mother. She finally became pregnant -- but encountered the pandemic and caught COVID-19. During the prenatal check-up, she was also diagnosed with pregnancy toxemia and needed a caesarean section.

Originally, she was going to undergo the operation in four days. “…because the hospital undertaking this kind of surgery had no more beds available, the operation was postponed. And then our Tzu Chi Indonesia Hospital opened, so she was transferred to us,” said Tzu Chi Hospital Superintendent Gunawan Santoso.

After the operation, Mita gave birth to twin boys safely and her COVID PCR test result was negative. Later she was discharged from the hospital.

Tzu Chi Indonesia Chapter CEO, Liu Su Mei, expressed her hopes for the new facility: “I hope that the Indonesian Tzu Chi Hospital is a hospital that saves lives and is also a model hospital. It gathers the love of all people, will assume the responsibility of safeguarding life in the future and will become a stronghold of health in Indonesia.”