According to the Resident of SE Borneo (1931-1933), Jonkheer B.C.C.M. van Suchtelen, there were 28 hospitals in his Residency in the year 1933 (See Memorandum of transfer of office, archive numer 1008, fiche 4 Nationaal Archief). The hospital at Poeroek Tjahoe was a military hospital at the time. However, four years later the Annexe to the NI Statutebook no. 13808 of 9 February 1937) mentions the existence of a GBZ (Gouvernements Burgerlijke Ziekeninrichting) in the same town with a rather small capacity, regarding the nursing class 4 it had been accorded. Maybe it had been converted from a military into a civilian status in the meantime.

The town of Poeroektjaoe was situated in the mountainous region of SE Borneo in the subdepartment Kapoeas Barito, about the geographical altitude of Samarinda (114 degrees East of Greenwich and near the aequator).