Shares in Indonesian hospital operator Mitra Keluarga have crashed 5.2% this week after a baby girl died when she was denied paediatric care. Her parents had been unable to pay the hospital’s upfront treatment fees.
The death of Tiara Deborah Simanjorang on Sunday morning occurred after the Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat Hospital in West Jakarta refused to admit the four-year old to its paediatric intensive care unit. The girl’s parents could not afford the Rp19.8 million (US$1,500) admittance fee and the hospital reportedly told them to take her to a hospital that served patients covered by the Indonesian national BPJS Kesehatan insurance programme.
The family claims that the delay in treatment meant that the girl died soon afterwards. These charges are denied by the hospital.
The decisions by the hospital and the lack of adequate response from Mitra Keluarga management since have dominated Indonesian newspapers.
In early September, Mitra Keluarga reported a 5.5% decline in interim profits to Rp364.9 billion on revenues that declined 1.9% to Rp1.2 trillion. Its shares yesterday closed down 1.5% at Rp2,010.
