The Petronella hospital at Yogyakarta was founded by the Gereformeerde Zending in 1897. After World War II this hospital was called Bethesda hospital and in 2010 it still existed under the name Rumah Sakit Bethesda.

The Petronella hospital is the oldest and largest hospitalof the Gereformeerde Zending,which had its mission field in the southern part of Central Jawa and on Sumba. In 1897 south of the city of Yogyakarta on the terrains of Bintaran the hospital was opened. It was made of simple bamboo material. Jan Gerrit Scheurer, the pioneer of the medical mission work laid the cornerstoenfor this work. As soon as the hospital became too small to exercise her functions, the Sultan Hamengko Buwono VII made available an ample terrain to build a new hospital.  The new hospital was situated in the quarter Gondokusuman, which previously had been used for sugar cultivation by the sugar company Mudja Mudju. This company cooperated to get the new hospital established on its ground. In 1901 the new hospital opened with a capacity for 150 patients. In 1930 the capacity had been extended to 380 beds.In that same year on average 355 beds were occupied, resulting in 129,862 nursing days. The NI Government provided a subsidy of    f 107,506. (Indisch Verslag 1930, 385).

The construction of the Petronella hospital at Yogyakarta during the years 1899-1900 had been financed by a donation of f 15,000 and by efforts of the Association Dokter Scheurer Hospital and was facilitated by the gift of  his terrain by the sultan. Under influence of the so-called Ethical Politics the Minister of Colonies granted free medicine and a contributionof f 3,000 for running costs in 1901.The following year an amount of f 6,000 was granted on condition of employment of a second medical doctor. The hospital at that moment had 100 beds and had asked for a contribution of f 1 per bed per indigenous hospital.