President Vo Van Thuong visits and encourages doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital 1

On the occasion of Vietnam Doctors' Day (February 27th), on the morning of February 22nd, President Vo Van Thuong visited and encouraged doctors, nurses, and medical staff at Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City - a leading pediatric medical facility in the country. Member of the Politburo and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen and leaders from the Ministry of Health joined the delegation.

With over 60 years of development and growth, Children's Hospital 1 aims to develop specialized pediatric services with five priority areas: Neonatology, Intensive Care, Interventional Surgery, Pediatric Cardiology, and Infectious Diseases. The hospital currently has 1,768 staff members; providing examination, treatment, and care for all pediatric illnesses in children under 16 years old. With a capacity of 1,500 beds per day, the hospital sees approximately 5,000 patients during peak periods. Through numerous efforts and dedication, Children's Hospital 1 has reduced its mortality rate to just 0.3%.

In 2005, the hospital established its first specialized neonatal unit with new neonatal resuscitation techniques such as high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFO), nitric oxide (NO) ventilation, whole-body cooling for hypoxic brain diseases, and surgery for congenital defects. The hospital has a 70-bed Emergency and Intensive Care Unit - Toxicology Center with many modern resuscitation techniques applied, saving the lives of many critically ill patients and significantly reducing the child mortality rate.

President Vo Van Thuong with leaders and doctors of Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN

The hospital is promoting the development of endoscopic surgery and expanding its services to include thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, urology, and maxillofacial surgery. It has also developed Real-time PCR technology for isolating the EV71 virus, contributing to a reduction in the diagnosis rate of encephalitis of unknown origin from 70% to 30%. The hospital is strengthening international cooperation, promoting assistance for impoverished patients, perfecting its comprehensive care model and hospital quality management model, and widely applying information technology to its management practices.

President Vo Van Thuong encouraged and congratulated the staff, doctors, and workers of Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City on Vietnamese Doctors' Day. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN

Notably, the interventional cardiac catheterization team at Children's Hospital 1 recently collaborated with the surgical team at Tu Du Hospital to successfully perform "intrauterine cardiac catheterization" on a fetus with severe congenital heart disease. According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, this fetal cardiac catheterization case represents a significant advancement in advanced techniques, on par with developed countries in the region. Globally, only a few places, such as Brazil and Poland, have successfully performed this technique. Countries in the region with significant medical achievements, such as Singapore and Thailand, have not yet implemented fetal cardiac catheterization.

Throughout its development, the hospital has consistently focused on three key characteristics: accessibility, scientific approach, and humanistic values. Based on scientific principles in its specialization and management, ensuring healthcare equity, caring for impoverished patients, building a friendly environment, supporting frontline healthcare, and focusing on the community, the hospital has simultaneously developed specialized areas of expertise and implemented community-oriented medicine, laying the foundation for continuous growth and development.

Expressing his pleasure at visiting the doctors, nurses, and medical staff of Children's Hospital 1 on Vietnamese Doctors' Day, and witnessing the remarkable achievements in healthcare and public health care at the hospital, President Vo Van Thuong acknowledged and highly appreciated these results, stating that they were achieved thanks to the correct direction of the city's leaders, the Department of Health, and the hospital's leadership team throughout the years, aiming to become a top 5 high-quality pediatric medical center in Southeast Asia.

President Vo Van Thuong visits the mother of the first successful fetal cardiac catheterization procedure. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN.

The President highly praised the team of doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital 1 for their unity, courage, professional confidence, love for patients, and willingness to think outside the box and take action for the health of the people, resulting in very proud achievements.

The President stated that, as a leading hospital in Ho Chi Minh City and a top-tier specialized medical facility in the Southern region, given the rapidly changing disease patterns among pediatric patients and the emergence of many new diseases, the hospital's doctors and medical staff have actively researched and developed appropriate healthcare models for patients.

The President highly appreciated the hospital's reduction in mortality rate, from approximately 1.4% in 2005 to only 0.3% in 2023. In particular, the hospital has made significant progress recognized by the global and Vietnamese medical communities, exemplified by the first fetal cardiac intervention cases in Southeast Asia. This demonstrates a spirit of daring to think and act for the lives and health of patients. This is a collective of hearts beating in unison, a courageous spirit, and extraordinary resilience from the doctors and medical staff.

The President stated that, in addition to statistical figures, the success of Children's Hospital 1 also reflects the courage and initiative of its doctors and nurses, based on their professional confidence and their desire to contribute to the health of children, bringing joy and happiness to many families and society. These are things that statistical reports cannot fully convey.

President Vo Van Thuong visits a child patient receiving treatment at Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN

The President emphasized that the medical profession is a noble one because it protects health, saves lives, brings positive emotions to society, and brings joy and happiness to families. However, the medical profession is also a difficult one, requiring continuous learning and striving for excellence. The President hoped that doctors, nurses, and medical staff would always maintain a strong passion and love for their profession to continue striving and working diligently.

The President stated that the medical profession is different from many others; while expertise is important, it is not enough. It also requires a spirit of empathy and compassion, like a family member, for the patient. What a doctor brings to the patient, besides professional knowledge, is sharing and empathy.

The President expressed his hope that the doctors and medical staff of Children's Hospital 1 would maximize the achievements made in the past; and at the same time, strive to achieve new successes, because achievements always present new challenges to overcome, requiring continuous effort. Along with that, they should continue to expand international cooperation in the region and the world with pride that Vietnamese doctors and medical staff can confidently share their experiences with the international medical community. They should also strive to improve and enhance the efficiency of hospital management, to build a smart, friendly, green, clean, and beautiful hospital, and to apply the maximum achievements of science and technology in management and treatment.

President Vo Van Thuong visits a child patient receiving treatment at Children's Hospital 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN

The President instructed city leaders and all levels and sectors to pay attention to and improve the living standards of doctors, nurses, and medical staff; continuously upgrade medical facilities and equipment; focus on continuing to train the next generation of doctors, especially by sending young doctors to study medical experience in countries with developed medical systems to build upon the achievements and traditions of the hospital in the future.

The President requested that the hospital pay attention to, guide, and support lower-level hospitals in handling difficult cases; thereby contributing to reducing the burden on higher-level hospitals and simultaneously improving the quality of lower-level hospitals.

President Vo Van Thuong and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen presented gifts and congratulated the leaders of Children's Hospital 1 and Tu Du Hospital for successfully performing two consecutive fetal cardiac catheterization procedures. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN

President Vo Van Thuong and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen presented gifts and congratulated the teams from Children's Hospital 1 and Tu Du Hospital for successfully performing two consecutive fetal cardiac catheterization procedures. Photo: Thong Nhat/TTXVN

According to VNA/News Agency

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