Thu Duc hospital

Cu Chi district hospital is about 50km northwest of Ho Chi Minh City. Director Ho Hai Truong Giang said since its reconstruction with modern equipment in 2016, Cu Chi hospital now treats about 600 patients per day, twice its previous capacity. The number of inpatients has also doubled.

Doctor Giang said: “Patient beds are kept full used and the numbers of both outpatients and inpatients have increased. We have obstetrics and general surgery. In complicated surgical cases, we invite doctors from the central hospitals or send patients to specialized hospitals.”

Thu Duc hospital handles approximately 6,000 patients a day, many from adjacent provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The hospital’s catalogue covers head injuries, brain trauma, spiral trauma, and endoscopic surgeries.

Associate Professor Doctor Tang Chi Thuong, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Health Department, said investing in hospitals on the outskirts is a major policy to ease crowding in the central hospitals. The city plans to send doctors and nurses to assist local hospitals. Doctor Thuong said: “We have a plan to develop local human resources and “red-alert” procedures to send doctors to remote hospitals or provide remote-treatment in serious cases in which patients cannot be transferred to the central hospitals.”

New hospitals are being built in Binh Chanh, Can Gio, and Hoc Mon district.