Medan Listrik Electricity Warning

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The Electricity Crisis in Medan Sumatra Indonesia

Listrik = Electricity

We feel this post is important as a self preparation when you visit Medan. Yes, we do have an electricity supply crisis in Medan.

So, sometimes, you may find blackouts when you are shopping in the local plaza, malls and shops or Even when you are dining in local restaurants.

Try to watch from the skies, if you are flying into Medan at night time. You may find some parts of Medan in total darkness.

Good news, is that many businesses and homes are now already self-equipped with generators to generate electricity when there is a electrical shortage. However, you may still find a 5-10 seconds blackout as the delay for the generators power up and switch supply.

This can even happen in malls and plaza of Medan as we found out at Plaza Medan Fair where there is a sudden blackout of about 2 minutes while we were shopping.

So dont panic or when you get caught up in elevators if there is a black out. Be prepared, but I doubt you need to carry a torch light with you.

As a tip, your mobile phone should be helpful as a light if you get caught in a black out in the night time. I use mine all the time, just make sure they are fully charged

Gleni International Hospital Medan

Gleni International Hospital in Medan Indonesia

If you were unfortunate enough to have to spend a night at a hospital in Medan, then this may be what you need to know.

There are many hospitals in Medan but for the sake of cleanliness, you may just want to opt for Gleni International Hospital at Jl. Listrik in Medan.

This hospital used to be part of the Gleaneagles group of Healthcare of the Singapore company but it had been changed to the current Gleni Hospital since last year. So hopefully the ISO standards will still remain in the hospital.

The system works like this, should you be required to be admitted, you can request for a particular doctor only if he or she practice at the hospital. You will then need to choose the room type, and most important factor to note is that:

ALL costs i.e doctor fees, laboratory fees, medical fees will depend on the room type you choose. Hence, if you choose to stay in a one bedded room, then all your medical charges will be higher than if you chose to the four-bedded room.

Likewise, if you choose to stay in the VIP room or suites, all these costs are much higher compared to if you choose the normal single room. Yes, this hospital have VIP suites, Executive suites as well as Presidential suites for patients. Just to make patients feel more comfortable as if they are staying in a hotel.

( the VIP room, not exactly 5 star, but you get an extra bed for your care giver and carpet floor so it feels more like a hotel and not a hospital room, this is a real picture taken, not from brochure )

However, these rooms are priced higher than the 5 star hotels in Medan.

Cost of room:

• VIP - Rp 1,100,000 ( an extra bed for your sleep over companion)
• Single superior - Rp 825,000 (same as VIP except without carpet and extra bed for your companion)
• Single - Rp 550,000

As a comparison, you can book a room at the Aryaduta 5 Star Hotel in Medan for only USD83 which is less than Rp800.000.

As for normal medical care, doctors are based in the hospital only certain time of the day, so you will need to call in to the Clinic department and ask for the timing. However, please note that the Clinic is closed from Saturday afternoon and on Sunday.. so, yes.. you will not be able to get hold of specialist doctors during the weekends.

( this is the entrance to the 24 hour clinic, you can also access to the emergency area from here or from the rear entrance - the emergency unit UGD is at the rear of the building )

Should you need to see the specialists during the weekends, you will be best to walk straight into the emergency area, and if you feel you need to be admitted, the emergency department will then contact your choice of doctor who hopefully may just be kind enough to come in and check on you instantly.

Most of the time, they would just instruct the nurses over the phone on what medication to give and they will normally just come in the next day to check on you. Therefore, if you are in critical condition and am still able to travel, it is best to just take a quick flight out to Penang, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore for the treatment.

We were also told that the laboratory charges are higher after 10 pm, which I dont think patients have any choices if they have to be admitted at night.

Doctor recommendation based on personal experience:

• General: Dr Hartono Taslim (geriatrics), Dr Cut Tigor
• Paediatrician: Prof Sharil Pasaribu, Dr Chairul Yoel, Dr Johannes

Phone Numbers to remember:

• Medical Hotline : +6261 4562626
• Information Centre: +6261 4566368 ext. 100

Related Online Guides:

• First Aid Manual
• Health Insurance
• Alternative Medicines
• Back Pain Relief

Medan Electricity History

Medan History Power Failure and Electricty

Here’s a piece of History on Medan’s Electricity that I think even our governor does not know about. I received this email from our visitor - Donald Robin. Interestingly he found us online through the news of Medan Power failure which has traveled worldwide!

In the email is an interesting history about Medan, I have been given permission to publish his email here, please read on:

Hello there,

It’s been 70 years since I left Medan, Berastagi and all of Sumatra for higher education in Europe, but that is not my reason for contacting you people….

I’m 85 now and happened to browse on Google Maps….

to be informed that North Sumatra has a Power problem…..!!

Well…..

My dad built all the power stations from Medan up to Kota Radjasuch as Langsa, Idi, Lohsumawe, sigli, etc, in the ’30’s,including in Batak land, Berastagi near the Merapi

where I attended boarding school nat the PSV….

My dad was J.C.N. Van Loon, a dual(mech/elect) engineer…

He was welknown I’d say, as Carel van Loon of the NIGM,

so it wouldn’t be much of a problem to find people in and around Medan/Berastagi who still remember him, the tuan bezar Panlonand/or me, his son the tuan bezar muda by the name of “Donny”…

What I am surprised about is that whereas dad built the chain of hydro and diesel powered generators then rebuilt them after the jap war from absolute scrap from 1946 to ‘50, apparently those installations have been left to maintenance by the Gods….

with practically no human interference at all…..!!

Now this is utterly rediculous….

Over the years Indonesia has been supplied with millions if not billions of US$$ and NL Florines….

What happened to all that money ??

Did it vanish into the pockets of some hi-phelootin’ political compadres:- Bung Karno and others? or WHAT ??

It’s plum madness to put the blame on not having raised consumption rates….

Alright, so something gives and breaks down…. in time

But you guys have been having a pretty good time with gamelan, makanans, focky fock, etc. instead of tending to whatever you had or have to tend to….

Yes I’m mad….

My dad is gone…. for some 50 years now… he’s dead !!

Had he known about this fiasco he would turn endlessly in his mangrove grave.

He was the best mechanical/electrical engineer that I know of and Sumatra’s West Coast ever had…… and he built it all…

with his 4000 employees, whom he instructed and trained….

personally, physically…. if they didn’t know yet….

I know…… I am his numero uno son,

I’m a triple engineer MSME/EE from UCSD, MIT and ICT La Jolla, Ca.

a former Spitfire pilot, SQ LDR (OBE), RAF, Brittain, during WW2,

and ex Cdr USNavy, now retired….,

I was the Naval designer for all the big US carriers and subs….

and I used to be the designer for all chemical/oyl facilities for

Aramco (Saudi), Dow Chem (Holland, Germany, Chec Rep)

ICI (GB and Holland), Electricité General (Brussels/Toronto, Can)

and some of the North Sea platforms for BP and Shell…..

I am a born American, Navajo (Indian), as was my dad..

His true name:- John Carl Norris deValon-Donald….

(misspelled by the Dutch into Johan Carel Norris “van Loon”)

son of the 0ver 500 yrs long ancestry of French deValons (Hugonots)

and an Indian squaw of the Navajo tribe….a Donald….

Her dad was a skin hunter… buffalo, beaver, you name it..

P/S:- Dad had a second (indonesian) wife

by which one daughter (abt age 50 now) and twin sons….

They lived in Gloegoer….

I lost track of them since the early 1970’s

Maybe you people can trace them back to me…. Thanks..

PP/S:- I’m too old and feeble these days, at 85….

else would go back to Sumatra

and redo his work for only transportation cost,

lodging, food and beverages (booze)….

and claim back my dad’s property, the Jap shalet

and the bungalow below, up the hill road from the PSV….

in Berastagi, which were all burned down in the Bersiap time….

so I heard.. Just tell me who owns it now…..

Donald - deValon, Robin

Yes, Medan People and Businesses are all short of electricity and power, businesses and home owners suffers from electronics failure from the power failure. More and more Medanese are “self-powered” now by buying their own generators.