Ho Chi Minh City officially put a new oncology hospital into operation on Monday morning after four years of construction at a cost of over US$252 million.

The second branch of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital is situated at Road 400, Cay Dau Hamlet, Tan Phu Ward, District 9.

The 10-story new hospital has a capacity of 1,000 beds meeting international standards.

For the initial six months, the branch will only treat outpatients.

It is expected to receive a daily average of 400 patients, mostly from other provinces, in October. That number will rise to 600 in November and 1,000 in December.

Inpatients will be transferred to the main premises of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital at 3 No Trang Long Street in Binh Thanh District.

For the time being, patients can choose to have their health examined at both locations of the hospital.

Construction of the second branch started in 2016. It was scheduled to finish in late 2017.

The date of completion has been pushed back many times till now.

It cost VND5.845 trillion ($252.17 million) to build the new hospital.

Before its official inauguration on Monday morning, the new branch has come on stream since October 2.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Ho Chi Minh City chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said that the authorities will create the best conditions for the second branch of the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital to soon become an intensive medical facility in Vietnam’s southern region and Southeast Asia.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son also attended the ceremony and sent his congratulation to Ho Chi Minh City and the hospital.

Currently, the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital examines roughly 3,000 patients, about 75-80 percent of the pre-COVID-19 level, on a daily basis, according to statistics.

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