Why RSUD Ruteng Moved Surgery Outside After the Earthquake

Ruteng — — The Indonesian Health Ministry said patients at RSUD Ruteng in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, were being treated in emergency tents after earthquake damage forced services outside the hospital building. The ministry said a field hospital at Golo Dukal Stadium would include an operating room so surgery could continue safely.

The temporary setup reflects a common disaster-response principle: when a hospital structure is unsafe, care continues in makeshift facilities rather than stopping altogether. In Ruteng, the ministry said surgical treatment for earthquake patients was being maintained while the field hospital was prepared.

According to the ministry, the first phase of the field hospital included five tents, with space for inpatient care, emergency treatment and surgery. The ministry also said the facility would initially provide about 60 beds, with plans to expand capacity to at least 100 beds.

Why care moved outside

The ministry said the earthquake damaged RSUD Ruteng and that the building could no longer safely support normal operations. It said patients, including those needing surgery, were being handled in emergency tents outside the main hospital.

That decision was driven by safety as much as by logistics. The ministry said the field hospital was intended to allow treatment to continue even though the main building had been affected by the quake.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said the field hospital was designed to support surgical care for injured patients, including a child who suffered a broken thigh in the quake, according to the ministry. The ministry said the first operation in the field hospital was carried out on a boy with a femur fracture, and later procedures were also performed there.

The ministry also said orthopedic teams were mobilised to support care in Ruteng, alongside health workers from several hospitals and institutions. The response was aimed at treating fracture and trauma cases linked to the earthquake.

What the field hospital includes

The field hospital at Golo Dukal Stadium was described by the ministry as more than a triage point. It included tents for inpatients, emergency care and a dedicated operating room, with the operating tent separated for sterility.

On 19 August 2026, the ministry said the field hospital had begun functioning and surgery was underway. It later reported that three patients had received surgery there by 20 August 2026.

The ministry also said health teams would visit health centres and villages in affected areas to identify people needing treatment or referral. That outreach was meant to find patients who might otherwise be missed after the quake disrupted access and local services.

What can be confirmed

Two independent sources confirmed that RSUD Ruteng was damaged in the earthquake and that medical care, including surgery, was shifted into temporary facilities outside the hospital building. The Health Ministry said the field hospital was being built at Golo Dukal Stadium, and RRI reported that emergency surgical tents were already in use there while the facility was being set up.

The confirmed timeline is that the quake damage and emergency tent care were reported on 18 August 2026, the field hospital began operating on 19 August, and the ministry later said surgeries had been carried out there by 20 August 2026.

RSUD Nagekeo was also said by the ministry to have been affected by the earthquake, but the Ruteng response was the clearest example of surgery being moved outside the damaged hospital building.

The ministry’s account does not give a department-by-department relocation plan for RSUD Ruteng, but it does confirm the central point: surgery and other patient care continued in temporary facilities because the main hospital building had been damaged.

Sources

• Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia
• RRI