Ho Chi Minh City ensures best health care for 14 million people after merger

Although the number of medical facilities and human resources increased after the merger of Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, the number of medical examinations and treatments certainly increased and the risk of overload at some end-line hospitals is present.

This is a big challenge that Ho Chi Minh City faces after the reorganization of provincial administrative units.

According to the Department of Health, when merged, the area of ​​the City will increase from 2,095km2 to 6,772km2, the population will increase from 9.9 million people to more than 13.7 million people, the demand and scope of medical service provision will increase accordingly.

The number of hospitals in the City will increase from 134 to 164 hospitals ( Binh Duong 27 hospitals, Ba Ria-Vung Tau 13 hospitals); the number of hospital beds will increase from 41,525 to 49,147 beds (Binh Duong 5,202 beds, Ba Ria-Vung Tau 2,420 beds).

However, the ratio of hospital beds per 10,000 people will decrease from 41.7 to 31.3, while the current target is 42 hospital beds per 10,000 people.

The city will increase the number of doctors from 20,727 to 24,629, but the ratio of doctors per 10,000 people will decrease from 20.8 to 13.08 (the current target is 21 doctors per 10,000 people).

The ratio of nurses per 10,000 people will decrease from 37 to 29 (the current target is 39 nurses per 10,000 people).

In addition, the total number of public services of the City's health sector will increase from an average of more than 20,000 records/year to over 30,000 records/year.

After the merger, the number of medical examinations at general and specialized hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City will certainly increase, from over 42 million visits/year to over 51 million visits/year.

The number of inpatient treatments from over 2.2 million/year is forecast to increase to over 3.8 million/year. Thus, the Ho Chi Minh City health system will provide approximately over 30% of outpatient visits and over 23% of total inpatient treatments nationwide.

This is a huge challenge, but also a great opportunity for the health sector to proactively research and expand service facilities according to the model of facilities 2 and 3 of leading general and specialized hospitals in the new areas of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong provinces.

This not only meets the people's need for medical examination and treatment, but also is an opportunity to promote the development of medical tourism, said Mr. Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health.

Ho Chi Minh City Health Department plans to supplement the planning for health system development in new areas.

In addition to the planning of 3 existing specialized medical clusters, the City plans to plan the construction of the 4th and 5th specialized medical clusters (in Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces) and urgently research, evaluate and readjust the indicators of the number of beds per 10,000 people, the number of doctors and the number of nurses per 10,000 people to suit the new situation.

Another challenge is that the City needs to soon find a solution to expand the network of "satellite" emergency stations in the two provinces of Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau to ensure serving the needs of the people.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, from now until the end of June 2025, leaders of the three Departments of Health of Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong Province and Ba Ria-Vung Tau will continue to meet and discuss important issues to prepare for the merger of the three units, ensuring the best healthcare service provision for nearly 14 million people of Ho Chi Minh City after the merger./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/tp-ho-chi-minh-dam-bao-cham-soc-suc-khoe-tot-nhat-cho-14-trieu-dan-sau-hop-nhat-post1039775.vnp