9-Year-Old Patient Dies as Film Crew Uses Jakarta Hospital to Shoot TV Soap Opera Scene

The Jakarta Globe, December 27, 2012


A nine-year-old girl died in Harapan Kita Hospital on Thursday after she was unable to receive immediate treatment in a ward being used by a film crew to shoot an Indonesian soap opera.

Ayu Tria Desiani was admitted to the West Jakarta hospital’s emergency room on Wednesday afternoon with severe diarrhea. She had been previously diagnosed with leukemia and was a regular patient of the hospital.

Doctors then discovered Ayu had a burst blood vessel and was in need of treatment in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. The girl was admitted to the ICU, but her care was delayed as a crew continued to shoot a scene for SCTV’s sinetron “Love in Paris” in the ward, her father said.

The film crew continued to walk through the room as his daughter waited for treatment, father Kurnianto Ahmad Syaiful, 47, told the Indonesian news portal detik.com. The hallway leading to the ICU was crowded with film equipment, making it hard for patients and doctors to reach the ward, he added.

“People were told to use a side entrance instead,” he said.

Ayu died at 2:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Her father didn’t blame the hospital, but said he was disappointed in the service his daughter received.

Harapan Kita Hospital officials denied the shoot prevented Ayu from being treated, explaining that the film crew was working in a separate room that was removed from the patient area.

“It’s not true we abandoned a patient,” hospital spokesman Ida said. “It was only that room and a hall [used for the shoot]. The shooting was very quick, only two minutes.”

Ida said a doctor stood by Ayu the entire time she was in the ICU.

“We already treated her at the ICU... she wasn’t abandoned and was immediately admitted to the ICU. There was always a doctor on guard,” Ida said.

The child did have to wait before she was admitted to the ICU, Ida said, but it was unrelated to the film shoot.

“It did take quite some time before she was admitted [to the ICU], but it was because [there was] a long process to find a bed and replace the old one,” she said.

A scene for the SCTV sinetron portraying an actor being treated for leukemia was being shot in the ICU area, Ida said.

The sinetron series stars senior actor Mathias Muchus, actor Surya Saputra, and actress Ira Wibowo. Co-director Irawan Tanu said the hospital had offered the use of the ICU, which they claimed was broken and not in use.

“I know hospital rules,” Irawan told Merdeka.com. “I only followed the direction of the hospital.”

Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi threatened to sanction the hospital if the staff was found guilty of neglecting patient care for “commercial purposes.”

“Surely there will be sanctions,” she said. “I will first check, [and] after I find the truth, I’ll tell you the sanctions.”

The House of Representatives’ Commission IX, which oversees health issues, said it would summon the Health Minister to question her about the incident.

“If necessary, we will go straight to the hospital and use our supervisory rights,” lawmaker Aditya Didi Moha told republika.co.id.

The Jakarta Globe, December 28, 2012


West Jakarta’s Harapan Kita Hospital promised on Friday that it would ban the use of its wards for TV or movie shoots following the death of a 9-year-old patient as its intensive care unit was being used for filming.

Ayu Tria Desiani, a leukemia patient, was allegedly unable to receive immediate treatment at the ICU as a film crew shot a scene for the Indonesian soap opera “Love in Paris” in the ward. Ayu died early on Thursday morning.

Harapan Kita spokeswoman Ida earlier admitted a delay in treatment, but attributed it to the lack of a bed, saying the girl’s death had nothing to do with the shooting, which was done in a separate room in the ward.

On Friday, the director of the hospital, Achmad Subagio, said the hospital would put an end to the use of its wards for any shootings.

“As the shootings have caused discomfort, Harapan Kita Hospital has decided to no longer allow shootings at our place,” Achmad told a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

He added that it was one of his subordinates, not himself, who gave a permit for Thursday’s shoot, but said he would take full responsibility for the incident, which sparked immediate public outrage.

“I have reprimanded [the person], but as a leader, I take this as my responsibility. I’m ready to receive [sanctions],” he added, according to Indonesian news portal detik.com.

Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi earlier said she would sanction the hospital if it was found guilty of abandoning patients for “commercial purposes.”

However, Ahmad said the hospital never charged production houses that filmed movies in its wards, adding, “We consider filming as a means to promote the hospital.”
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