The mission hospital Charitas at Palembang was founded by the Roman Catholic congregation Sisters of Charity of Tilburg (SCMM). The hospital was established on the Talang Djawa in 1926. (See Grote Atlas van NOI, p. 174). The last known address is Jalan Jendral Sudiman n. 1054 and the recent name is Rumah Sakit RK Charitas.

From the website of this organization (www.charitashospitals.com) we copied a few statements on its history (Google translated and abbreviated):As is the case in every mission area, the health business is a concern, so in the Southern Sumatra mission area, the health business is one of the efforts to help the community. In this regard, the leadership of the Pastor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who has served in the Southern Sumatra region since 1926, asked for assistance from the leadership of the Charitas Sisters Congregation in Roosendaal, The Netherlands, to assist in the mission environment in this area. The request received a good response so that in a short time they were ready to send their Sisters to the mission area in southern Sumatra. Right on July 9, five Sisters from the Roosendaal Charitas Congregation arrived in Palembang. They are: 1. Sister Raymunda Hermans, 2. Sister Willhelmina Blesgraaf, 3. Sister Caecilia Luyten, 4. Sr Alacoque van der Linden, 5. Sister Chatarina Koning. So, with the spirit of the ideals of the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Francis Charitas “namely in joy, simplicity and especially in love to help others, while praying and sacrificing themselves showing the joy of life among the sick and the needy” the five sisters began their work in Indonesia precisely in the mission area of ​​the city of Palembang, the address is Jalan Jenderal Sudirman next to St. Church. Yoseph (Brother of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) at this time.

General Sudirman / current brotherhood. This hospital was very simple to accommodate 14-16 sufferers. At that time most people did not understand about hospitalization in a hospital, so the number of beds that were only a few were often empty.

To expand their ministry they conduct home visits. So, every day two sisters go in and out of the alley around Palembang. Palembang region geographically is a city of water, lots of swamps so that at that time there were many passages that were still connected only by a single piece of bamboo. Despite this, the sisters continued to carry out their duties with zeal and zeal for the benefit of society and the church.

The work of the Charitas Sisters in Palembang is growing and there are ten more Sisters from the Congregation of Charitas in Roosendaal Netherlands, so it is felt that a new hospital is needed to be built. The leadership of the Charitas Sisters chose a piece of land that was located at a height at that time away from the hustle and bustle of the city and was quite strategic, this place was indeed a small mountain in the corner of Palembang city, which is the location of the current hospital. In 1937, the laying of the first stone began, then on January 18, 1938, the opening of the hospital was inaugurated by Mgr. Meckelhot SCJ with the name RK hospital. Charity. Meanwhile, the old building opposite the hospital was handed over to the Brothers from O.V.L. van Utrecht.

The hospital founded by the Charitas Sisters is the first hospital in Palembang, with 59 beds. Apart from that, visits and delivery services at home are still carried out by hospital nurses who ride bicycles.

During the Japanese occupation the hospital was taken and made into the headquarters of the Japanese army. The nuns and priests were interned/captured in various places. At the time of independence, the Charitas Hospital was returned to the Charitas Sisters Congregation and continued to be improved until it became the hospital it is today.

See also: J. Willemsen, Van tentoonstelling tot wereldorganisatie, p.94.

See also: : Dutch Missionary activities for documents of oral history on the Sisters of Charity of Tilburg, p. 171.

Palembang was a Residency with 3 departments: the Palembang Lower countries; the Palembang Higher countries and Ogan-and Komering Hoeloe. (Hoeloe means the upper stream of a river and Hilir means the lower stream. Moeara means the estuary of the river. The Residency has a surface 2.5 x the surface of The Netherlands. The capital Palembang is part of the Palembang Lower countries and is not situated on the seaside, but 83 km inland, at both sides of the Moesi river. The city had a municipality council and a mayor. The capital has 109,000 inhabitants, almost 1,900  Europeans and 15,800 Chinese (Gonggryp 1934, 1116).