"They are focused on providing basic specialist services," said Azhar Jaya, Director General of Advanced Healthcare at the Ministry of Health.
He said the upgraded hospitals reflect the government's commitment to strengthening healthcare services in remote, border, and island areas.
Each hospital will be staffed with at least seven specialists — in internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesiology, clinical pathology, and radiology.
Jaya said the deployment of specialist personnel will be carried out in stages, including through overseas education and training programs.
"Several specialists have been sent to China and Japan to join cardiac intervention and neurointervention training," he said, adding that human resource preparation runs parallel with facility development.
The ministry is also ensuring the availability of modern medical equipment in all upgraded hospitals.
Jaya noted that the government is improving the hospital financing structure, particularly for services under the state health insurer BPJS Kesehatan and non-BPJS patients.
Currently, reimbursements are calculated under the Indonesian Case-Based Group (INA-CBG) system, which provides a fixed bundled rate per diagnosis. The government plans to transition to the Indonesia Diagnosis-Related Group (INA-DRG) system, viewed as a fairer model.
"In the future, INA-DRG will calculate payments based on case complexity and hospital competency, making financing more proportional," he said.
He added that a balanced financing structure would help hospitals become more independent and financially sustainable without reducing public access to quality care.
The construction of regional hospitals is part of the second point in President Prabowo Subianto's Quick Wins program, which also includes free health check-ups and tuberculosis eradication.
The initiative marks an early step toward ensuring equal healthcare access for remote communities on par with other regions.
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Translator: Sean Filo Muhamad, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Anton Santoso
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