The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council on Tuesday decided to source over VND4.3 trillion (US$176.1 million) from its budget to purchase medical equipment for three hospitals at its gateways.

Of the total, the Thu Duc Regional General Hospital will receive over VND1.45 trillion ($59.5 million); Hoc Mon Regional General Hospital, over VND1.49 trillion ($61.1 million); and Cu Chi Regional General Hospital, some VND1.36 trillion ($55.8 million).

The city will purchase the equipment between 2023 and 2025.

The plan to acquire medical equipment for these hospitals is vital to ensure that they will have sufficient equipment after being put into operation.

Residents in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces can access high-quality healthcare services, while these hospitals can attract high-skilled medical workers.

The plan will also help ease the overload at central-level hospitals in the southern metropolis.

In 2021, Ho Chi Minh started work on these three hospitals with an investment of VND5.6 trillion ($229.5 million), sourced from the city’s budget. The city expected to complete and put them into use in 2025.

Dang Quoc Quan, director of the Hoc Mon Regional General Hospital, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the project to rebuild the hospital is around 75 percent complete.

The hospital proposed needed medical equipment two to three years ago to prepare for its operation.

Meanwhile, Cao Tan Phuoc, director of the Thu Duc Regional General Hospital, said the re-construction of the hospital is expected to finish at the end of this year.

Contractors are installing elevators at the hospital. It will hand over the land on which the current hospital is located for the development of internal roads in the next 15 days.

The hospital has also made a list of necessary medical devices and sent the list to the municipal Department of Health.

The 1,000-bed Cu Chi Regional General Hospital was also expected to begin operating from late this year. It will also admit 3,000-3,500 outpatients per day.

The construction of the Thu Duc Regional General Hospital is expected to finish at the end of 2023. Photo: Thu Hien / Tuoi Tre

Quan from the Hoc Mon Regional General Hospital said the hospital sees a high number of patients daily, including some 1,600 outpatients and 300 inpatients, including those from neighboring Long An and Binh Duong Provinces.

Infrastructure and equipment of the hospital is ramshackle and operating ineffectively.

He gave the example of a 16-slice CT scanner at the hospital that has been used for over 15 years but has been seriously broken for two years. As a result, the hospital has to send its patients to other hospitals.

Its ultrasound machines, X-ray machines, operating tables, and operating rooms are also dilapidated.

Meanwhile, the Thu Duc Regional General Hospital receives an average of 2,600-2,700 patients daily and even up to 3,000 on peak days. The number of patients from adjacent provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong makes up 40 percent, and the remaining are patients from Thu Duc City.

The investment in new medical equipment for the hospital is essential to meet the demand of patients.

The VND4.3 trillion (US$176.1 million) amount for the purchase of medical equipment at the three hospitals is part of the VND7 trillion ($304 million) that the municipal People’s Council decided to spend on infrastructure and equipment of health care units under the mid-term public investment plan for the 2021-25 period.

The city also passed projects to develop new infrastructure and procure equipment for 17 medical facilities under the municipal Department of Health.

As a result, the total mid-term public investment is valued at over VND3 trillion ($123 million) for the 2021-25 period and more than VND4 trillion ($164 million) for 2026-30.

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