Provincial General Hospital: 80 years of construction and development

From a thatched roof house during the resistance war, through years of evacuation in the deep forest, Tuyen Quang Provincial General Hospital - formerly the Revolutionary Hospital - has continuously grown and matured. Up to now, after 80 years of establishment, development and renaming, the Hospital has become a Grade I Hospital, the largest modern medical center in the province, where many generations of dedicated doctors gather and work together for the cause of taking care of people's health.

A modern digital subtraction angiography (DSA) system has been installed and put into use to serve the treatment of diseases at the Provincial General Hospital.

Steadfast in the resistance

80 years ago, during the most intense period of the August 1945 uprising to seize power, the country faced numerous difficulties, especially in the health sector. To meet the requirements of serving the revolutionary government and all classes of people, on August 22, 1945, in the mountains and forests of Tuyen Quang, from a charity hospital, the provincial revolutionary hospital - the predecessor of Tuyen Quang Provincial General Hospital was established. Its birth and existence created an important premise, laying the foundation for the establishment of a Western medical system on the heroic land of Tuyen Quang.

There are no high-rise buildings, no modern operating rooms, just simple bamboo and thatched houses, outdated medical equipment, and limited human resources, but that is where the first generation of medical staff of the Provincial General Hospital carries out the noble mission of examining, treating, caring for, and protecting the health of the people, not only with knowledge but also with a passionate heart.

During this period, Tuyen Quang Provincial Hospital was renamed Tuyen Quang Hospital. Not only performing the task of medical examination and treatment, the hospital also became a place to train medical staff for the war zone, contributing to the formation of a strong grassroots health system. The classes of nurses and doctors born right in the war zone were valuable resources to continue the cause of taking care of people's health in the revolutionary land of Tuyen Quang.

Biochemistry laboratory technician operates automatic testing system.

In March 1961, President Ho Chi Minh returned to Tuyen Quang, talked with cadres and people, he was very interested in medical examination and treatment for ethnic people in the province and agreed to allow Tuyen Quang province to build a class A hospital with a scale of 300 beds. After completion, the hospital was renamed Tuyen Quang A Hospital.

In the 80s and 90s, in response to the increasing demand for medical examination and treatment from officials and people, Tuyen Quang province decided to allow the hospital to rebuild the office building, examination and treatment building on the basis of the old buildings with a scale of 450 beds. At the same time, the name of Tuyen Quang A Hospital was officially changed to Tuyen Quang Provincial General Hospital.

Rising in the era of innovation

From 2005 to now, the hospital has undergone a strong transformation. With the professional support of central hospitals under Project 1816 of the Ministry of Health, the satellite hospital project of Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi Medical University Hospital, the hospital has shifted from gradual upgrading to expansion and specialization in the direction of modernization.

Many modern diagnostic and interventional equipment have been invested and deployed. In particular, the hospital has successfully deployed a number of specialized surgeries under the support and professional guidance of central hospitals, typically: Craniofacial surgery, brain tumors, spinal cord tumors, spine surgery coordinated and transferred from professors of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital to now become routine surgery.

In addition, the hospital expands training cooperation and technology transfer with central hospitals and Hanoi Medical University to foster professional capacity for staff, play a leading role in expertise, support district levels, participate in satellite hospital programs, contribute to reducing the burden on upper levels and improve access to medical services for people in the province.

Thanks to its remarkable development, in September 2014, the hospital was recognized by the Ministry of Health as a Grade I hospital. This is an important milestone, marking the maturity of organizational capacity, expertise and medical management, opening a new stage of development, requiring the apparatus to be more streamlined and efficient.

A laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery for a pediatric patient.

With the orientation of becoming a high-tech center of the mountainous province, the hospital has invested heavily in modern equipment such as: Multi-slice CT-Scanner, 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, digital angiography (DSA) system; new generation digestive endoscopy system with magnification and staining functions to diagnose early digestive tract cancer; automatic testing machine, meeting national standards; endoscopic surgery system; laser garlic crusher; Phaco surgery machine... In particular, since 2020, the hospital has put the Cardiovascular Intervention Department into operation, performing more than 2,000 coronary interventions - an important milestone bringing the Hospital on par with Central Cardiovascular Centers.

Along with that, many specialized techniques that were only performed at the Central level have now been deployed at the Hospital such as: Coronary stent placement, hip and knee replacement, spinal reconstruction with biological cement; percutaneous nephrolithotomy with small tunnels, endoscopy of the uterine cavity, thyroid gland, permanent pacemaker placement, plasma exchange, pain treatment with laser, etc.

The hospital's outstanding mark is that it has signed and implemented cooperation agreements in training, fostering, transferring techniques to perform high-tech services, and comprehensively developing healthcare with many large hospitals in the Central region such as: Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, Hanoi Medical University Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Central ENT Hospital, creating conditions for the medical staff to receive new techniques.

80 years of construction and development,   Tuyen Quang Provincial General Hospital has always received attention and favorable conditions from the Central Government and the province. That attention is demonstrated by the investment in infrastructure and equipment that is increasingly complete and synchronous. The highlight in recent years is that the province has started the project to build a Provincial General Hospital with a total area of ​​nearly 14 hectares; the total investment is nearly 1,800 billion VND from the Central budget and local budget. The new hospital has a scale of 1,000 beds. After the hospital is put into use, it will open up many opportunities for people to access modern medical services, meeting the health care needs of the people.

Dr. Nguyen Hung Dao, Director of the Provincial General Hospital, checks the results of liver tumor scan on the machine.

Accompanying the development of the province

To have the current position and appearance, according to Meritorious Physician, Doctor, Senior Physician Nguyen Hung Dao - Party Secretary, Director of the Provincial General Hospital, it is thanks to the hospital's confidence in continuing the tradition of solidarity, creativity, innovation, integration, and development; constantly improving the quality of the hospital; meeting the needs of protecting, caring for, and improving people's health.

With the motto of serving “Fast - convenient - accurate - effective”, “Taking the patient as the center”, “Innovating service style, promoting the development of specialized medical services” and the working spirit of “After work - After hours”, the hospital has achieved remarkable progress in the development of specialized medical techniques. Along with that is a spacious infrastructure, modern medical equipment, achieving many successes in researching and applying scientific and technical advances, initiatives and improvements in medical examination and treatment, contributing worthily to the cause of protecting, caring for and improving people's health.

With the results achieved, the Provincial General Hospital has been honored to receive many noble awards from the Party, the State, the Ministry of Health, the Provincial Party Committee, and the Provincial People's Committee. In particular, in 2003, the Provincial General Hospital was honored to receive the Third Class Labor Medal from the President and in 2012, was awarded the Second Class Labor Medal. For many consecutive years, the Prime Minister has awarded the excellent emulation flag; received many Certificates of Merit from the Ministry of Health and the Provincial People's Committee for outstanding achievements in performing medical tasks, the Hospital is excellent in all aspects.

For many years, the hospital's trade union and youth union organizations have been awarded many Emulation Flags and Certificates of Merit by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union for their outstanding achievements in the movement of activities and building strong trade union and youth union organizations. Many individuals have received other noble awards for their contributions to the cause of caring for and protecting people's health.

Bach Mai Hospital doctors provide professional support in examination and treatment of diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology.

With the continuous efforts and solidarity of the Party Committee, Board of Directors, leaders of departments, offices and all cadres, civil servants and employees, the Provincial General Hospital has been highly appreciated by all levels and sectors; trusted by patients, relatives of patients, and people inside and outside the province, deserving to be the first-class General Hospital of the province and a bright spot in regional healthcare.

Article and photos: Minh Hoa

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/xa-hoi/202508/benh-vien-da-khoa-tinhchang-duong-80-nam-xay-dung-va-phat-trien-7d37b49/