The mission hospital Saint Elisabeth at Medan (Eastcoast Sumatra) was a general hospital that was founded in 1930 by the Roman Catholic congregation of Sisters of Saint Elisabeth at Breda.

Kouwenaar: The nursing for better situated civilians is available in the long time existing “Ziekenverpleging” and in the newly opened hospital Saint Elisabeth. Both are excellently equipped.

See Jan Willemsen, Van tentoonstelling tot wereldorganisatie, 94 and Dutch Missionary Activities, 117-118, The oral histories of 3 religious sisters (Nurses) is told in the files KMM 39 of Appolonia Bierman (sister Constance), KMM  472 of C.G. Scheen (sister Beatrix) aand KMM 582 of A.M.Walraven (sister Isfrida). Sister Constance was working from 1928 to 1975 in Sumatra, most of the time in the hospital Saint Elisabeth at Medan. Sister Beatrix was nurse in the same hospital from 1939 to 1971. The hospital saint Elisabeth was owned by her congregation. It was comfortably equipped, the rooms of the sisters also; patients were the well-to-do Europeans and Chinese. They did not think this to be real mission work. The real work started only after the war. Sister Isfrida was nursing from 1931 to 1965 in Sumatra. Though the hospital environment was pretty much European she thought the work of missionary character. She tellss about the day to day activities and about expansions with support from the Netherlands. From 1954 the hospital started a training of nurses.

Medan was the capital of the Government Eastcoast of Sumatra and the department Deli and Serdang and the Sultanate Deli. The city has 75,000 inhabitants, of whom 4,000 Europeans and 30,000 Chinese. It has a municipal council and a mayor (Gonggryp 1934, 825).