Hospital Bangkatinwinning at Muntok
KITLV code 50487 (year 1929)

On the island of Banka a number of 8 hospitals was established to take care of the tinmine workers. These hospitals were called Gouvernementsziekenhuizen, because they cared for employees of government companies. Strictly speaking they belonged to the category of company hospitals as well. On 17 June 1929 Governor General A.C. de Graeff visited the hospital and a picture was taken of him and the European doctor G.J. Folpmers and the manager of the mine, J.G. Bijdendijk. The NI Staatsblad (Statute Book) of  25 January 1909, no. 74 mentions the appointment of 2 European doctors on a monthly income of ƒ 500. These functionaries were also charged with the local health care and the supervision of vaccination. In 1909, an additional appointment of 1 European doctor is mentioned in the NI Staatsblad no. 74 of 1 February 1909. From the Annual Report of the Civil Medical Service of 1909: In this year a total number of 2,583 patients were admitted in the Muntok Government hospital. Discharged were: 2,365 (recovered),36 were discharged without being recovered and 22 were evacuated to Buitenzorg. The average length of stay was 17 days. The average number of occupied beds: 120 and the number of nursing days: 43,911. The number of malaria cases was 281. A number of 6 dysenteria patients were admitted, of whom 4 recovered and 2 deceased. A number of 20  leprosy patients was admitted, some were sent back to China and some were transferred to the leprosy asylum at Tandjong Poenei. 150 patients suffered from beri-beri, of whom 110 recovered, 22 were sent to Buitenzorg, 6 deceased and 15  were still present by the end of the year. In the month of October 18 cholera patients were admitted. The clinical diagnosis was affirmed by the laboratory of Weltevreden. The cholera came from Palembang. Favourable results were booked with the decontamination by quicklime of wells and lavatories.

Muntok was in the 1930s a subdivision and district with a homonymos capital of the division Bangka, Residency Bangka and Dependencies. Administrative under a Controller BB. The subdivision had 31,000 inhabitants, of whom 300 Europeans and 9,000 Chinese. The town of Muntok was until 1913 the regional capital, but lost her importance (Gonggryp 1934, 894).

See General hospitals 1940- Google maps, for the location of the town.

See the Grote Atlas van Nederlands Oost-Indie (Asia maior/knag, 2005) for an extensive townplan on p.177 with the location of the Government Hospital indicated.