The deadline to complete an oncology hospital project in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam has been proposed to be delayed until 2027 despite the project having been commenced eight years earlier.

The project, funded by Hungarian loans, is the Can Tho Oncology Hospital, situated in Can Tho City, the Mekong Delta’s central hub.

During a meeting on Wednesday, Nguyen Van Dung, a member of the Can Tho People’s Council, said the project is a typical example of wastefulness in the city and asked for plans to deal with it.

In response, director of the Can Tho Department of Health Hoang Quoc Cuong said the municipal administration has established a special working team to resolve issues related to the project.

After working with relevant ministries and agencies over the past two years, the national government allowed the resumption of the project on July 15 this year following a suspension since 2022.

The Can Tho Department of Health later worked with contractors to reach a consensus on the medical equipment list for the project.

On November 8, Can Tho requested the prime minister’s approval to extend the project’s completion deadline to 2027, replace ODA loans with local funding, revise the list of medical equipment and building materials, and adjust the project’s scope.

Once approved, the department plans to propose adjustments to the municipal administration and aims to resume work by 2025, according to Cuong.

Le Thanh Tam, director of the Can Tho Department of Planning and Investment, said the department would coordinate with relevant departments and agencies to urge the municipal People’s Committee to resolve obstacles in the project to prevent wastefulness and losses.

Tam added the Can Tho Oncology Hospital project plays an important role as it was expected to serve residents in all provinces in the Mekong Delta.

The Can Tho Oncology Hospital project, designed with a capacity of 500 beds, has a total investment of over VND1.7 trillion (US$66.9 million), with Hungarian ODA loans covering more than 80.66 percent of the budget.

Construction of the Can Tho Oncology Hospital began in October 2017, with an initial completion target of 2020. Once completed, it is expected to be the largest and most advanced oncology hospital in the Mekong Delta.

However, work was suspended in 2022, leaving completed structures abandoned.

The Can Tho Department of Health attributed the halt to the expiration of both the construction contract and the loan agreement.

During construction, contractors from Hungary made requests to change the medical and construction equipment to ensure that half of the list had Hungarian origins, leading to adjustments to the construction contract and loan agreement.

The department also admitted that it was inexperienced in carrying out projects using ODA loans, delaying procedure completion. 

The old Can Tho Oncology Hospital is falling apart and overcrowded.

The hospital receives over 500 patients daily for health checkups and provides inpatient care for around 500 others.

Due to the overcrowding, two to three patients are often forced to share a single bed.

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