Like many successful North Sumatra businessman, Martua Sitorus always wants to contribute more to his local community. In memory of his beloved mother, Murni, who died because of cancer, the owner of Wilmar International Limited built a cancer hospital in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province. The hospital is a contribution to community as well as Martua’s tribute to his mother. The hospital itself was finished in 2012, and currently, the Medan city government is even seeking partnership with this hospital to give more opportunities for North Sumatra people to get good cancer treatment.
Reasons to Build Cancer Hospital
The reason why Martua chose cancer hospital as his contribution is the fact that there are many people in North Sumatra especially Medan who cannot get proper cancer treatment in their own province. If they want to get good treatment that will improve life expectancy, they must go to Singapore or Malaysia, which means only people with high income who can afford good treatment. With his contribution, Martua hoped to change that fact and give Medan people more opportunity to be treated at local hospital, without having to go abroad.
The name of Murni Teguh Memorial Hospital was inspired by Murni, Martua’s mother, and Mutiara, Martua’s sister who came up with the idea of building a cancer hospital. The hospital itself is quite grand, with 9 floors and complete treatment facilities including for chemotherapy. The building was a part of Center Point, a business center in Medan, which connects the hospital with public facilities such as shopping center, hotel and apartment. Currently, there are 247 rooms and 70 doctors who work at this hospital. These doctors graduated from national and international universities.
Investment for Local Contribution
Despite living in Singapore to run his international business, Martua Sitorus never forgets his hometown. His hospital is a proof of his care for people in North Sumatra, so they can get better access to facility that gives good treatment for deadly cancer. He poured millions of dollar as investment for this hospital, so it can become the best medical facility for cancer treatment in Asia. His money is also used to buy state of the art medical facilities, such as cancer detection equipment called Linex, which is currently the most sophisticated in Asia.
Even after became a director of international group, Martua Sitorus never forgets his root, and this is the thing that makes him famous in North Sumatra.