The leprosy hospital Tobelo has been founded by the Utrecht Missionary Association about 1905. The picture was taken about that time and collected by the KITLV at Leiden (image code 1402302)From the Mededeelingen of the DVG (Health Service) XXVIII of 1939 the average number of patients was reported to be 56 per day. In 1937 this number was 66 with a total of respectively 20,668 and 24,146 nursing days.
The subsidy was in 1936 f 2,274 and in 1937: f 3,380.
In 1938 the Report of the DVG mentions a bed capacity of 68 beds, almost all the time for 100 % occupied (25,068 nursing days).

Tobelo was a sub department and district with a capital of the same name, part of the department Ternate, Residency Moluccas. The sub department exists of the districts Wasile, Kaoe, Tobelo, Galela and Morotai (island).
It is situated in the eastern part of the Northern peninsula of Halmaheira.
The resort has 34,000 inhabitants, among whom 80 Europeans and 460 Chinese. The population is almost entirely of native religion, but the number of christians is increasing. The number of Moslims is small (Gonggryp 1934).

Nowadays Tobelo is a town and a district. on the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera. It is the capital of the regency (Kabupaten) of North Halmahera, part of the province of North Maluku. The city was formalized as the capital of North Halmahera in the district elections held in 2004.
It has a population of approx. 33,700. A palm tree lined coastal road connects Tobelo to Galela> The town is predominantly Christian and a Protestant Church has existed in Tobelo since at least 1924 (Wikipedia accessed 14 August 2019.