The leprosy village of Donoredjo was founded in 1915 by the medical doctor H.Bervoets who was employed by the  Doopsgezinde Zendingsvereeniging, which was active in the northern part of Central Java where this organization founded general hospitals at Kelet, Mergareja and Kedungpenjalin.

In the year of foundation the organization received f 34,000  subsidy for building and equipment (Gouvernements-besluit no. 27 of 14 January 1916). Twenty years later, in 1936, the organization had 207 places and 75,516 nursing days. They received a subsidy for running costs of f 31,385. The Decision of the Governor-General of 19 August 1919 no. 38 established the amount per admitted patient on f 7.50 per month.(See Mededeelingen DVG 1939 (no. 28)).

The 23rd Annual Report of the Sanatorium Donoredjo, institution for leprosy patients, mentions about the year 1938: the experiences with radiation as therapeutic instrument for leprosy. These experiences are all but positive (See GTNI  79 (1939) 33, 15 Augustus 1939, pag. 2096).