VND900B Hospital in Vietnam Central Province Expected to Ease Overload

Vietnam’s central province of Nghe An is preparing to soon open the Vinh International Hospital, which cost nearly VND900 billion ($41.25 million), on expectation that the new modern facility would help ease overload for medical demand at central-level hospitals and meet the local need for better healthcare. A delegation led by the province’s party secretary and health workers on July 28 visited the hospital in Vinh city, touring the 34,000-square-meter seven-story facility. The hospital is designed to have 500 beds in both the inpatient and outpatient wards, all meeting international standards and capable of serving 800 to 1,000 patients a day. Nghe An is becoming the socioeconomic center of the central region, and healthcare is among the prioritized fields, said Party Secretary Ho Duc Phoc. The Vinh hospital has attracted tens of excellent doctors currently working in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, and Dong Nai to return to their hometowns. There are also foreign experts from Germany, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore invited to help improve the medical quality. Vietnam’s medical sector, especially state-run hospitals at the central level, faces many hurdles concerning infrastructure and human resources. The government is seeking to open up a network of satellite hospitals across the country to help connect experienced doctors at public and private hospitals with those in more remote and less developed localities. As of July 20, there remain 25 provinces and cities out 63 total lacking satellite hospitals and departments. The matter is urgent given the rising environmental pollution and diseases, such as lung cancer, occupational illnesses, heart disease, and dengue fever, in Vietnam. While Vietnam has average seven doctors per 10,000 population, that number in the Mekong Delta is only 4.6. Currently, the country has a total of 260,058 hospital beds, which means the bed availability rate is 28.1 beds/10,000 residents. (tienphong.vn July 29)