Close-up of the passage through Gia Dinh People's Hospital and Oncology Hospital

Việc mở bức tường ngăn cách hai bệnh viện giúp Bệnh viện Nhân dân Gia Định sử dụng — The removal of the wall separating the two hospitals allows Gia Dinh People's Hospital to "borrow" a portion of facility 1 of the Oncology Hospital (Binh Thanh District) to treat inpatients - Photo: THU HIEN

For several months now, Gia Dinh People's Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) has had to open up the wall separating the two hospital buildings, creating a temporary corridor for patients and medical staff to move through the old Oncology Hospital facility next door.

Overloaded, Gia Dinh People's Hospital had to break down the wall to borrow a temporary treatment facility.

According to Tuoi Tre Online 's observations on the morning of February 28, groups of patients' relatives and medical staff bustled through Gia Dinh People's Hospital and the Oncology Hospital via a newly opened corridor.

After their examinations, some patients were also wheeled by their family members to the "temporarily borrowed" area of the Oncology Hospital for inpatient treatment.

From what I observed, this corridor is about 2.5 meters wide, quite dilapidated, surrounded by corrugated iron, with many patches of peeling concrete on the ceiling.

To get to the Oncology Hospital, there are signs along the corridor that say "Area B, go this way".

Patient HN (43 years old, residing in Binh Thanh District), who is currently receiving examination and treatment at Gia Dinh People's Hospital, said that for about 3 months now, she has been quite surprised when directed to go through this road during her visits.

Dr. Nguyen Hoang Hai, director of Gia Dinh People's Hospital, said that the hospital's existing facilities do not meet the needs of medical examination and treatment, and the hospital has "borrowed" building B of the Oncology Hospital for examinations.

In addition, Gia Dinh People's Hospital has requested permission to use the land and facilities of Columbia Asia Gia Dinh International Hospital (No. 1 No Trang Long Street, Binh Thanh District) - an institution that recently announced the cessation of all operations from January 31, 2024, due to the expiration of its investment certificate.

Upon acquiring this land, the hospital plans to expand its medical examination and treatment area to serve local residents and vulnerable groups (the poor, the elderly, and those living alone), while also improving the existing green spaces to benefit patients.

Construction is progressing slowly, causing headaches for the hospital.

The project to rebuild and replace the inpatient ward of Gia Dinh People's Hospital commenced on March 17, 2020, with a scale of two 15-story buildings funded by the Ho Chi Minh City budget, the operational development fund, and loans, with a total investment of over 600 billion VND.

The project is being undertaken by the contractor, Thanh Do Construction Group Joint Stock Company, and it is one of the projects that has repeatedly been criticized for delays. On-site observations show that construction is still underway, albeit at a slow pace.