Responsibility of former Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien at facilities 2 of Bach Mai and Viet Duc Hospitals

Deputy Inspector General of the Government Nguyen Van Cuong assessed the abandonment of two hospitals as a "heartbreaking image" - Photo: HUY TRAN

According to the inspection conclusion and accompanying documents announced by the Government Inspectorate on April 4, former Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien is responsible for a series of violations that occurred at the Bach Mai and Viet Duc Hospitals' second facility project.

The inspection conclusion shows that the construction of the two hospital projects has been suspended and "covered up" for many years, along with violations during the implementation process, causing damage and waste of more than 1,200 billion VND.

The Minister concluded that the content was against the regulations.

The inspectorate discovered that in some bidding packages, there were intentional violations of the provisions of the law on bidding and construction in submitting for approval the policy of hiring foreign consultants to prepare projects without clarifying the ability of domestic consulting units to meet the requirements.

Notably, the Minister of Health concluded that Notice No. 417 dated May 9, 2014 "contained content contrary to the provisions" of the 2005 Law on Bidding, when it clearly stated that VK Group Company (a foreign consulting unit) must complete the investment project including the explanation and basic design before implementing the steps of selecting a contractor.

Bach Mai Hospital, Branch 2 (Phu Ly City, Ha Nam) is still under construction and has not been completed - Photo: NAM TRAN

In addition, in some bidding packages, prohibited acts in bidding occurred such as intentionally reporting false information or being dishonest when evaluating proposal documents, distorting the results of bidding.

According to the inspection agency, the organizations involved in the above violations are the Ministry of Health, the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction (now the Department of Medical Infrastructure and Equipment), units under the Key Health Department...

The Minister of Health, the Deputy Minister assigned to be in charge, along with the department head and deputy department head at that time, were clearly involved in violations in the two bidding packages TVBM-04 and TVVD-04. Violations in these two bidding packages were determined to have caused an estimated loss of VND80 billion to state assets.

The above leaders of the Ministry of Health are also responsible for the violations of the two bidding packages XDBM-01 and XDVĐ-01. The value of some equipment in these two bidding packages is many times higher than the post-tax import value, posing a risk of causing damage to state assets.

What is the responsibility of former Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien?

The Government Inspectorate recommended that the Prime Minister direct the Ministry of Health to review and take strict legal action against the ministers and deputy ministers in charge of the two projects in each period related to the violations and wrongdoings stated in the conclusion.

Review according to the law for the deputy minister involved in other violations of the key Health Board as pointed out in the inspection conclusion.

According to the document attached to the published conclusion, the Government Inspectorate specifically named the responsibilities of the leaders of the Ministry of Health through each period.

Specifically, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Minister of Health from 2011 to 2019, was the person who directly signed decisions related to both projects during the period from 2013 to 2017.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Tien, Deputy Minister in charge of basic construction, was also the head of the specialized Project Management Board from 2016-2019.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Son, Deputy Minister, in charge of the Project Management Board of specialized medical construction projects from March 27, 2021.

Notably, the Government Inspectorate "named" Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien as responsible for a series of violations occurring at the Bach Mai and Viet Duc Hospital facility 2 projects.

Specifically, regarding the content of intentionally submitting for approval the policy of hiring foreign consultants to set up investment projects, the organizations and individuals mentioned in the violation include Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Mr. Nguyen Chien Thang (Director of the Key Health Department)...

Ms. Tien and Mr. Thang were also mentioned in the section on organizations and individuals violating the content of intentionally submitting and approving the plan to select architectural options without sufficient basis and without ensuring competitiveness.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and the Deputy Minister of Health assigned to be in charge of each period were determined to have "lack of responsibility, lax management", and lack of inspection, supervision, and monitoring of bidding work to implement contracts for investors, the Government Inspectorate stated.

According to the Government Inspectorate, the organization of the selection of consulting contractors in 2 bid packages and construction contractors in 4 bid packages has committed many violations of the law.

Regarding the above content, the organizations and individuals responsible for the violations listed by the Government Inspectorate include: Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Mr. Nguyen Chien Thang, Mr. Nguyen Huu Tuan (Director of the Key Health Department 2017-2020), Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan (Director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction at that time)...

Ms. Tien and Mr. Thang were also "named" in the section on organizations and individuals violating regulations related to a number of bidding packages "with many violations of legal regulations" at the Bach Mai Hospital 2 project.

According to the inspection conclusion, the project of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital was approved by the Prime Minister, but construction had to stop due to a series of serious violations in bidding and hiring foreign consultants.

The two hospitals, which the government has invested thousands of billions of dong in, have been abandoned and overgrown with weeds because they have not been used for the past 10 years. According to the Government Inspectorate, the amount of damage and waste in these two projects amounts to more than 1,200 billion dong.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trach-nhiem-cua-cuu-bo-truong-nguyen-thi-kim-tien-tai-co-so-2-benh-vien-bach-mai-va-viet-duc-202504041822477.htm