Proposal to spend 790 billion VND to build a new District 4 Hospital.

On the afternoon of November 1st, a monitoring delegation from the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, led by Mr. Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of the City People's Council, conducted a monitoring session on the implementation of the "Improving the Capacity of Grassroots Healthcare - People's Health Care" program at District 4 Hospital.

Dr. Do Thanh Tuan, Director of District 4 Hospital, reported to the monitoring team.

Reporting to the inspection team, Dr. Do Thanh Tuan, Director of District 4 Hospital, stated that the unit currently has two facilities: one at 63-65 Ben Van Don Street, with a total floor area of ​​over 6,200 ^m² , comprising four buildings (ABCD) with a scale of one ground floor and four upper floors; and the second facility at 2 Le Quoc Hung Street, with one ground floor and two upper floors, covering an area of ​​437 ^m² (both located in Ward 12, District 4).

The hospital was allocated 203 beds, but the actual number of beds used is 145, for the care and treatment of patients with chronic diseases and underlying conditions. As a result, the bed occupancy rate in the General Internal Medicine department consistently reaches 80% (86% in the first six months of 2023), while the Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Surgery departments only reach about 50% of their bed capacity.

The reasons for the low bed occupancy rate in some departments are that most medical equipment is over 20 years old and frequently malfunctions. The infrastructure is severely dilapidated, with warped floors and significant leaks; the patient rooms are small and substandard; and there is a lack of accompanying systems to meet quality and safety standards, such as air conditioning, fire safety systems, and restrooms.

The hospital proactively borrowed over 20 billion VND from the city's interest rate subsidy program to purchase blood storage cabinets, surgical handwashing systems, ultrasound machines, gastroscopes, 32-slice CT scanners, and 10 dialysis machines to support its medical examination and treatment activities. In addition, as the hospital is financially autonomous, its operating budget depends primarily on revenue from health insurance services. However, the current health insurance premiums do not accurately reflect the full cost of medical services, causing significant difficulties for the hospital in managing its operating expenses.

On the other hand, costs that are subject to price fluctuations and adjustments by the State, but are not simultaneously adjusted into the price of medical services, have affected the source of funds for salaries and income for civil servants and employees.

The District 4 Hospital has cramped facilities and many sections are in serious disrepair.

“The ability to cover expenses and accumulate capital for development is very low, leading to 26 medical staff members resigning or leaving their jobs in the unit over the past three years,” Dr. Tuan stated, highlighting the difficulties and then proposing: “In order to meet the medical needs of the people in the area and ensure the peace of mind of the medical staff, the unit has submitted a request to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health for approval to build a new hospital with a construction area of ​​nearly 3,600 ^m² , with a total estimated investment of 790 billion VND, not including accompanying equipment, from the public budget for the medium-term period 2026-2030.”

Sharing his understanding of the difficulties faced by the medical staff of District 4 Hospital, Mr. Le Truong Hai Hieu, Head of the Economic and Budget Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, affirmed that investing in medical equipment and building a new hospital is truly urgent.

"If hospitals are cramped and stuffy due to small, dilapidated facilities, how can they ensure effective medical examination and treatment for the people? The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health must report to the city and include the project to build a new hospital in the list of public investment projects according to the medium-term plan for the period 2026-2030," Mr. Hieu said.

The District 4 Medical Center covers an area of ​​approximately 800 ^{square meters} . For over 30 years, it has remained a row of single-story buildings, prone to flooding during the rainy season and scorching hot during the sunny season.

Mr. Cao Thanh Binh, Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, further noted that in District 4, there is a project to build a new district medical center that has been approved by the city with a total investment of hundreds of billions of VND, but the project remains stalled. So what is the reason? Is the District 4 People's Committee facing any difficulties in implementing the project?

Regarding the project's delays, Ms. Do Thi Truc Mai, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of District 4, stated that the new center construction project will have a scale of one ground floor and four upper floors; a total usable floor area of ​​over 7,000 ^{square meters} , with a total investment of 147 billion VND. Currently, the project is facing difficulties in compensation and land clearance due to some households not agreeing to the project.

The project to build a new center is one of the healthcare projects that the District 4 Party Committee has pursued with the city over nearly three terms of its congress. Currently, the city has only just decided to adjust the land price coefficient for construction, and this plan is awaiting adjustment by the City Department of Construction due to a change in the compensation amount for land clearance from 23 billion VND to 37 billion VND. It is expected to be finalized by mid-November 2023, at which point the district will focus on compensation and commence construction of the project.

Ms. Do Thi Truc Mai, Vice Chairperson of the People's Committee of District 4

On behalf of the Supervisory Delegation, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council Nguyen Van Dung highly appreciated District 4's efforts in overcoming difficulties to provide primary healthcare for its residents. He also shared that District 4 has the highest population density in the country (42,000 people/ ^km² ), therefore, providing healthcare for its residents faces many challenges. In the coming time, the District 4 People's Committee needs to continue advising the District Party Committee to issue a separate resolution on grassroots healthcare; review the current number of public and private medical staff; find effective ways to encourage retired doctors to support grassroots healthcare; and boost investment in grassroots healthcare, from infrastructure to medical equipment. Only then will it attract more people to seek medical examination and treatment, as the current rate of people seeking medical care is very low.

"Is 790 billion VND sufficient for the construction of a new District 4 hospital for the next five years, or should it be increased to ensure that the project doesn't become outdated and require a complete overhaul of the total investment within 5-10 years after its commencement…?" concluded Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council.

Dr. Nguyen Xuan Huan, Director of the District 4 Health Center, said that before Resolution 01, the center only had 67 medical staff (12 doctors working at 13 health stations) to serve in epidemic prevention and control and provide primary healthcare for nearly 180,000 people in the area. Following Resolution 01, the center recruited 4 doctors and received support from 15 young doctors and retired doctors, thereby reducing the workload for the retired medical staff at the stations. However, due to difficulties with infrastructure, only 2 out of 13 health stations are currently providing health insurance examinations, and the health station in Ward 8 has not yet found land for a new construction. The center recommends that the city continue implementing Resolution 01 to provide additional human resources for the grassroots health system at the ward and commune levels; and to have special policies for young doctors to retain them after their practice time at the stations ends…

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/de-xuat-790-ty-dong-xay-moi-benh-vien-quan-4-post712343.html