The military infirmary 4th class at Singkel (Aceh) was mentioned in the publication of D. Schoute “De Geneeskunde in Nederlandsch-Indie in de 19e eeuw”, GTNI 75 (1935) 10, 827. The article refers to a survey of  all the military facilities in 1867 . In that year the infirmary at Singkel had on average 3 patients. The infirmary was part of the Military Medical Service (MGD),  which in 1867 (the year of the survey of all military facilities) managed a total of 79 facilities (3 large military hospitals, 35 garrison hospitals and 41 infirmaries) with on average 4,244 occupied beds.

Some 25 years later, the Annex D of the Koloniaal Verslag 1890 reports a total  of 3,358 inpatients by the end of that year, whereas 52,631 patients have been admitted for the whole of the Netherlands Indies. The report concerns 28 military hospitals, 54 ziekenzalen (infirmaries) and 6 specialized facilities. The average occupation rate of Singkel infirmary is then 3 patients, whereas 110 have been admitted that year. The situation by the end of the year 1890 is a presence of 6 patients.

About 1900 the situation of military health facilities was: 30 hospitals, 56 infirmaries and 5 specialized facilities, such as reconvalescent centers and leprosy asylums. The total number of admittances was in 1898: 57,071 and the number of present inpatients by the end of 1899: 3,731. These figures were for Singkel infirmary: 192 admittances and a presence on 31 December 1898 of 9 patients (See Koloniaal Verslag 1900, Addendum A).

Singkel was in the 1930s a subdepartment of the department Westcoast Atjeh of the Government Atjeh en Onderhorigheden (Aceh and Dependencies) with an authority BB. The subdepartment consists of the districts Lower Singkel, Simpangkanan, Simpangkiri and Banjak islands. It has 23,000 inhabitants of whom 40 Europeans and 147 Chinese. The subdepartment is rather unimportant. There are no roads. All traffic takes place by river (Simpangkanan and Simpangkiri0 (Gonggryp 1934, 1300).