Jakarta – Hundreds of hospital patients in Jakarta have fled their beds before making a full recovery because they cannot afford their bills, an Indonesian newspaper said on Thursday.

The current economic crisis, in which the rupiah currency has plunged about 70 percent in value since July, meant that many patients could not afford medical treatment and hospitals had been left with large losses, the Pos Kota newspaper said.

Patients had been sneaking out the door before they had been deemed fit and well, the newspaper said. The main reason was the price of medicines, which have more than doubled since the crisis began.

At Cipto Mangunkusumo, the largest hospital in Jakarta, 355 patients fled between October and December 1997.

"The patients escaped on average two days before they terminated the treatment," a hospital spokesman said, adding that the hospital suffered losses of about 138 million rupiah ($16,200) over the three-month period.