HCM City plans to reduce at least 80 percent of hospital overload by2020 and 50 percent by 2015, city officials have told Minister ofHealth.
Huynh Van Biet, deputy director of HCM City's Departmentof Health, told Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien during her visit toHCM City on Feb. 14 that seven hospital projects will help reduce theload.
The hospitals are to be built near the city's four gateways, and will accommodate 5,500 sick beds.
Theplan also calls for an increase in the ratio of doctors for every10,000 people, to 15 doctors by 2015 and 20 doctors by 2020.
Biet said that all of the general and specialised hospitals in the city have exceeded 100 percent of their capacity.
Thehospitals have been overburdened with patients because of the highnumber of people admitted from other provinces, even thoughgrassroots-level hospitals do not operate at their full capacity.
Higherliving standards and more convenient transportation conditions haveenabled people to travel to big cities where specialised hospitals areequipped with modern facilities and highly skilled doctors.
Thepatient overload is the worst at cardiovascular, cancer, paediatrics andfunctional rehabilitation hospitals in the city, Biet said, adding thatthis year the city will be spending 80-100 billion VND (3.8-4.8 millionUSD) to upgrade district-level hospitals.
Health officials saidthat central hospitals in the city are seriously overloaded, with toomany patients from districts and provinces, but the matter can not beresolved overnight.
Last year, the number of patients at hospitals in the city increased up to more than 102 percent.
Fifty to 80 percent of the patients at the hospitals came from neighbouring provinces.
Tang Chi Thuong, director of HCM City Children's Hospital 1, said the hospital has been seriously overloaded for several years.
TranThanh My, head of HCM City Hospital of Traumatic and Orthopaedics, saidthe number of hospitalised patients has increased five times in recentyears.
The restricted number of trauma and orthopaedic doctorsand departments at other hospitals has led to even more pressure at hishospital. There are around 1,000 majoring trauma and orthopaedic doctorsin the country.
A doctor for Can Gio General Hospital claimedthat the lack of human resources is the main reason patients rejecteddistrict-level hospitals.
The hospital has only 16 doctors, andlow pay is a hurdle to attract good doctors. His income is 4.5 millionVND (225 USD) a month, after one year from graduating university.
HuaNgoc Thuan, deputy head of HCM City People's Committee, said the cityhas encouraged doctors from the central level to work at district-levelhospitals, where they will receive the same salary they are paid atcentral hospitals.
They will also receive allowances for working in grassroots-level hospitals.
Thuansaid that branches of reputable hospitals such as Cho Ray GeneralHospital and HCM City Hospital of Traumatic and Orthopedics in otherprovinces can help reduce the number of patients coming to HCM City.
Tiensaid the overload has become worse as more patients are coming to cityhospitals, although the ministry has developed a project to send doctorsto grassroots-level hospitals.
She said that developing facilities at central-level hospitals will be the only solution to the problem.
The ministry is collecting opinions so that it can outline a plan to solve the problems.
InHCM City, the health minister said that satellite hospitals of centralhospitals should be built in provincial areas to reduce the overloadingat central hospitals.
The ratio of hospital beds in Vietnam, 20.5per 10,000 people, is low compared to the 33 considered to be theminimum level set by World Health Organisation. It is 86 in the Republicof Korea and 140 in Japan.
The health sector has implementedseveral measures to minimise hospital overload, including increasing thenumber of hospital beds and working hours, simplifying administrativeprocedures, adopting IT solutions and encouraging private-sectorinvestment in the health sector, including the opening of privatehospitals./.
Huynh Van Biet, deputy director of HCM City's Departmentof Health, told Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien during her visit toHCM City on Feb. 14 that seven hospital projects will help reduce theload.
The hospitals are to be built near the city's four gateways, and will accommodate 5,500 sick beds.
Theplan also calls for an increase in the ratio of doctors for every10,000 people, to 15 doctors by 2015 and 20 doctors by 2020.
Biet said that all of the general and specialised hospitals in the city have exceeded 100 percent of their capacity.
Thehospitals have been overburdened with patients because of the highnumber of people admitted from other provinces, even thoughgrassroots-level hospitals do not operate at their full capacity.
Higherliving standards and more convenient transportation conditions haveenabled people to travel to big cities where specialised hospitals areequipped with modern facilities and highly skilled doctors.
Thepatient overload is the worst at cardiovascular, cancer, paediatrics andfunctional rehabilitation hospitals in the city, Biet said, adding thatthis year the city will be spending 80-100 billion VND (3.8-4.8 millionUSD) to upgrade district-level hospitals.
Health officials saidthat central hospitals in the city are seriously overloaded, with toomany patients from districts and provinces, but the matter can not beresolved overnight.
Last year, the number of patients at hospitals in the city increased up to more than 102 percent.
Fifty to 80 percent of the patients at the hospitals came from neighbouring provinces.
Tang Chi Thuong, director of HCM City Children's Hospital 1, said the hospital has been seriously overloaded for several years.
TranThanh My, head of HCM City Hospital of Traumatic and Orthopaedics, saidthe number of hospitalised patients has increased five times in recentyears.
The restricted number of trauma and orthopaedic doctorsand departments at other hospitals has led to even more pressure at hishospital. There are around 1,000 majoring trauma and orthopaedic doctorsin the country.
A doctor for Can Gio General Hospital claimedthat the lack of human resources is the main reason patients rejecteddistrict-level hospitals.
The hospital has only 16 doctors, andlow pay is a hurdle to attract good doctors. His income is 4.5 millionVND (225 USD) a month, after one year from graduating university.
HuaNgoc Thuan, deputy head of HCM City People's Committee, said the cityhas encouraged doctors from the central level to work at district-levelhospitals, where they will receive the same salary they are paid atcentral hospitals.
They will also receive allowances for working in grassroots-level hospitals.
Thuansaid that branches of reputable hospitals such as Cho Ray GeneralHospital and HCM City Hospital of Traumatic and Orthopedics in otherprovinces can help reduce the number of patients coming to HCM City.
Tiensaid the overload has become worse as more patients are coming to cityhospitals, although the ministry has developed a project to send doctorsto grassroots-level hospitals.
She said that developing facilities at central-level hospitals will be the only solution to the problem.
The ministry is collecting opinions so that it can outline a plan to solve the problems.
InHCM City, the health minister said that satellite hospitals of centralhospitals should be built in provincial areas to reduce the overloadingat central hospitals.
The ratio of hospital beds in Vietnam, 20.5per 10,000 people, is low compared to the 33 considered to be theminimum level set by World Health Organisation. It is 86 in the Republicof Korea and 140 in Japan.
The health sector has implementedseveral measures to minimise hospital overload, including increasing thenumber of hospital beds and working hours, simplifying administrativeprocedures, adopting IT solutions and encouraging private-sectorinvestment in the health sector, including the opening of privatehospitals./.
