Bali Hospital Builds New Cosmetic Surgery Center To Boost Medical Tourism

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Bali’s Sanglah Hospital is preparing to open a new purpose-built department that focuses on aesthetic, wellness, and anti-aging treatments. The hospital’s new cosmetic surgery department has been built with Australian medical tourism in mind.

The development comes as a part of an island-wide upscaling of infrastructure that is aimed to help Bali become a world leader in medical tourism. At present Singapore and major cities in Thailand like Bangkok and Chiang Mai is the first port of call for medical tourism in South East Asia. 

Sanglah Hospital is working in partnership with the Indonesian government to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into the construction and development of the new facility. Construction is set to start in the coming months and includes the development of a new 6-floor building that will offer comprehensive cosmetic surgery and non-surgical treatments.

The new Aesthetic Centre will enable the team to offer cutting-edge treatments, in a state-of-the-art facility that authorities hope will be appealing to international patients.

The center’s resident dermatologist Dr. Ekkers, spoke to Australia’s A Current Affairs news show. When asked what treatments will be on offer she said ‘Lips, eyes, breast. All the plastic surgery. Anything you want. We want our patients to age beautifully. Healthy from the inside and outside’.

The intention is to become the destination of choice for Australians who want to go abroad for medical treatment. The treatments on offer at Sanglah’s new cosmetic department will cost a fraction of what they cost in Australia.

According to Australia’s travel advice website SmartTraveller, over 15,000 Australians travel for medical purposes each year. The most common reason for medical travel is cosmetic surgery, closely followed by dental procedures, IVF treatment, and heart surgery. Bali already has a series of well-regarded dental facilities that have become the go-to destination for Australian travelers. 

Traveling overseas for medical treatment can be incredibly risky. Health and safety standards can vary greatly and treatments offered by providers internationally may not be covered by medical or health insurance in a traveler’s home country. Bali’s investment in new medical infrastructure is intended to make accessing international healthcare simple, affordable, and safe. 

Bali is not only a destination for medical tourism for Australians, patients from New Zealand, Europe, and the USA regularly travel to the island to access high-quality affordable treatments. Bali must compete with Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Turkey. It is hoped medical tourism will boost the leisure tourism industry too.

Travelers are always reminded to do extensive research before traveling for medical treatment of any kind, including contacting insurance providers to establish what is and is not covered by any given policy.

The announcement of the new facility has created mixed feelings amongst Australians currently on holiday in Bali. Speaking to international news outlets one interviewee said ‘I come from a medical background and unless they are going to staff their hospitals with our trained staff – then no.’ Others were more optimistic about the project stating that more cosmetic medical services ‘would be great’. 

In December 2021 Indonesia’s Minister for State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Tohir, released a statement to confirm the development of a new international hospital in Sanur. The hospital will open in mid-2023 and will also focus on treatments for medical tourists.

The facility is part of a country-wide Health Tourism Programme that is set to help diversify Indonesia’s economy. During the announcement, Minister Tohir was joined by President Jokowi who said that he hoped that the new hospital in Sanur would also support domestic medical tourism.

He hoped that Indonesian citizens would have affordable access to the hospital resources enabling citizens could be treated in their home country rather than traveling abroad. ‘I hope Bali will become a place for medical tourism for our own citizens, as more than 2 million people have been going to other countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and the United States to receive medical services.’