Ministry of Health explains why Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital 2 have not yet come into operation

Bach Mai Hospital 2 (Phu Ly City, Ha Nam ) has been under construction for 10 years but has not yet been put into operation - Photo: NAM TRAN

Two projects with capital of nearly 10 billion VND

The Ministry of Health has just sent a document to the National Assembly Delegation of Ha Nam province to respond to voters about finding solutions to soon put the project of the second facility of Viet Duc Hospital and Bach Mai Hospital in Ha Nam into operation, to reduce the number of patients at the central level, and facilitate medical examination and treatment for people in neighboring provinces.

According to the Ministry of Health , the Prime Minister approved the investment project to build the second facility of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital in 2014 with the goal of building these two hospitals into central-level hospitals that meet the standards: modern, synchronous, with advanced management and operation mechanisms, with medical examination and treatment levels on par with those of advanced countries in the region, contributing to reducing overload at central-level hospitals and reducing the number of people having to go abroad for medical treatment.

According to the investment decision approved by the Ministry of Health in 2014, each project has an investment scale of 1,000 hospital beds. The total investment for each project is about 4,990 billion VND.

Of which, the state budget capital is 4,500 billion VND. The rest is from other sources. The projects started construction in 2015, the completion progress according to regulations is 2020 and has been extended to 2024.

To date, contractors have completed over 90% of the construction of infrastructure and architecture. The project is divided into EPC packages (design, construction, supply, installation of equipment); applying the type of contract with adjusted prices.

Reasons why the project has been "suspended" for 10 years

However, during the implementation process, the project encountered difficulties and problems in adjusting the contract price, leading to the contractor stopping construction from December 2020 to present. The Ministry of Health said that the projects were behind schedule due to the following main reasons:

The Bach Mai Hospital 2 and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital 2 are major projects of the health sector, applying the EPC model for the first time. Therefore, the Ministry of Health, investors and contractors have not fully anticipated the difficulties and obstacles when implementing the project in this form.

In addition, the investor's capacity is still limited; they do not clearly understand the importance of contract law and do not have experience in managing EPC contracts.

From 2019 to 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic has been complicated, many localities including Hanoi city and Ha Nam province have had to implement social distancing, affecting public investment activities.

During this time, the Ministry of Health must focus all its forces on epidemic prevention and control, so it cannot focus on resolving difficulties and problems arising from projects.

In addition, problems in adjusting the contract price led to the investor being unable to pay the completed volume to the contractor, including: during the construction process, the design had to be adjusted to add some departments, change some functions and structures according to the request of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital to suit professional requirements.

The initial signed contract did not clearly specify the principles, methods and scope of contract price adjustment, so when adjusting the design, there was not enough basis to adjust the contract price.

Since 2018, the Government, the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries have actively sought measures to remove difficulties and obstacles for projects.

In 2023, the Prime Minister decided to establish an interdisciplinary working group headed by the Minister of Health and leaders of the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Construction, Justice, and Finance as members.

The Ministry of Health and the working group have made efforts to review, research, and propose solutions to completely resolve the difficulties and problems of these projects and have completed the solutions to submit to the Government for consideration and decision.

From the beginning of November 2024, the contractor will resume construction after the competent authority approves the treatment plan.

The Ministry of Health will resolutely direct investors and contractors to urgently focus maximum resources on implementing construction, ensuring the completion of projects in 2025.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-y-te-giai-thich-nguyen-nhan-benh-vien-bach-mai-va-viet-duc-co-so-2-chua-di-vao-hoat-dong-2025011121271641.htm