Quang Ngai Province in central Vietnam is home to many large industrial parks, but none of its healthcare facilities are eligible to provide health check-ups for foreigners due to the lack of certified medical interpreters. 

A representative of a company employing foreign workers in the province’s Dung Quat Economic Zone said on Tuesday he was surprised to learn that none of the medical centers in the province are qualified to offer expats medical check-ups.

As a result, the company had to transport their foreign employees to neighboring Da Nang City.

“This has affected our business,” the representative said.

Quang Ngai should take action to address the issue so that businesses can quickly conduct health check-up procedures for their foreign employees, the representative suggested.

Some companies active in the province’s Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) said medical centers in Quang Ngai are completely qualified to offer health check-ups to everyone.

Difficulties in offering foreigners check-up services are associated with regulations, not with the expertise of healthcare workers, these companies added.

A leader of the VSIP Quang Ngai underlined the need to tackle the issue so that foreign employees can find it easier to access healthcare services in Quang Ngai, which houses lots of foreign experts and workers.

Sending foreign employees to Da Nang for getting health check-ups will cost their employers a lot and reduce revenues of Quang Ngai hospitals, according to the VSIP leader.

Commenting on the issue, Pham Minh Duc, director of the Quang Ngai Department of Health, confirmed the province’s ineligibility to offer expats the check-up services.

As per the prevailing regulations, medical centers must have healthcare interpreters certified by the Ministry of Health or its authorized agencies in order to provide check-ups for foreigners, Duc explained.

Healthcare workers and medical equipment in the province are completely qualified to offer medical services to foreign citizens, he affirmed.

The problem, also facing other neighboring provinces, lies in regulatory procedures, the local health official said.

The provincial health authority will send its healthcare workers to training programs or recruit certified medical interpreters to work for local hospitals, in an attempt to cope with the issue, Duc said.

Next month, the Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Children's Hospital is expected to have certified medical interpreters, making it the first medical facility in the province to provide medical check-ups to foreigners.

More hospitals will be added to the list by the end of this year, Duc said.

He added that all hospitals in the province are able to offer emergency and medical treatment services to everyone, including foreigners.

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