The crisis of health equipment often occurs when the number of COVID-19 patients increases. This problem is also experienced by Bumi Sehat Clinic, which has been operated since 2005. “Indeed, we have faced many obstacles and challenges at the clinic, especially since we are also a non-profit,” said Erna Lidya, Assistant Public Relations (PR) and Media Team from the Bumi Sehat Foundation.
Bumi Sehat focuses its services on prenatal and delivery check-ups as a clinic. In addition, the clinic managed by the foundation with the same name also provides laboratories, acupuncture services, and general polyclinics. Mothers and children also need these things, and all these services are provided free of charge to the public. Therefore, Bumi Sehat also needs help from other parties for its sustainability. “So our initial focus was to help mothers who could not access health services optimally,” said the 25-year-old woman.
The presence of Bumi Sehat seems to be very helpful for the community, especially for every family who wants to ensure that their health condition is guaranteed, both for the mother and their baby. “Most of the people we help here are those who are economically disadvantaged, and especially now, more and more are being affected economically due to the pandemic,” said Erna. In addition to access to health, this maternity clinic often provides support, ranging from baby clothes, children’s books, vitamins to pre-and post-natal consultations.
During the pandemic, Bumi Sehat tried to maintain its services to the community even though it had limited health equipment to cope with COVID-19. Erna admitted that this maternity clinic had a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), hand gloves, masks, and rapid antigen test kits. The reason is that most of this health equipment can only be used once, and the supply in the market is limited, the price has increased. “At that time, it was challenging for us to obtain all of them, especially rapid test kits, even though every mother who is about to give birth here is required to have a rapid test,” Erna added.
The clinic also experiences a lack of oxygen in Ubud, Gianyar. Bumi Sehat, established as a clinic, received less oxygen quota from the government than the hospital, and this makes them often run out of oxygen. “There was a crisis of oxygen as we couldn’t buy much, even though we needed it here,” explained Erna.
Reflecting on the limitations experienced by Bumi Sehat and most health facilities in Indonesia, IDEP Foundation, in partnership with Save the Children Indonesia (SC), distributed health equipment assistance at the end of 2021. In this distribution, Bumi Sehat received 1 unit of 5L oxygen concentrator, 6 oxygen cylinders 6m3 & 2m3, 1 Oximeter, 17 short sleeve disposable aprons, 5 box head covers, and 20 boxes of rapid antigen test kits.
All medical personnel welcomed the health equipment support from IDEP and SC at Bumi Sehat. All such help is what is most needed at this time. With the health equipment they received, Bumi Sehat can be more guaranteed. Besides protecting their medical personnel, they can also provide the best health services, especially for economically disadvantaged communities. “Thanks to this support, we can help the community more and can continue our vision and mission to support mothers and children in gaining access to health,” said Erna with a smile. (Gd)
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