Rapidly renovate medical stations

Ho Chi Minh City is implementing many breakthrough solutions to improve the grassroots healthcare system, focusing on renovating and building new ones from medical stations to district hospitals. However, the implementation of renovation projects is still facing difficulties and is progressing slowly.

Dilapidated medical station

On the morning of June 12, we arrived at the An Lac Ward Health Station in Binh Tan District in a pouring rain. Inside, people were hurriedly packing up medical supplies, medicine, etc. to move to a drier place as water poured down from the corrugated iron roof.

The facilities of An Lac Ward Medical Station, Binh Tan District (HCMC) are seriously degraded.

Dr. Nguyen Van Duong, Head of An Lac Ward Health Station, said that the station was built and put into use in 2004 with a scale of 1 ground floor, 1 upper floor, full of functional rooms, ensuring medical examination and treatment for nearly 84,000 people in 47 neighborhoods in the area.

However, due to the long-term use of the health station, the ground outside has subsided, leading to gaps in the foundation of the building in many places, causing an imbalance between the ground and the inside of the station, causing cracks, peeling walls, and leaks... Almost the entire ceiling on the first floor is peeling plaster, the corrugated iron roof is rotten, and just a small rain will cause leaks on all sides, causing water to spill onto the ground floor. Many people have slipped and fallen, especially the elderly and the disabled...

At the Ward 3 Health Station, Go Vap District, in the heavy rain, only a few people came to get traditional medicine. Dr. Dinh Cong Dung, Head of Ward 3 Health Station, shared that due to cramped facilities, lack of medical equipment (such as ultrasound machines), no emergency beds, and the maternity and gynecological examination rooms having an area of ​​only nearly 5 square ^meters ... the number of people coming to visit was low. Despite such difficulties, the station still tried to take care of the health of over 2,000 elderly people/nearly 60,000 people in the area. In the suburban areas, many health stations are also seriously degraded.

“The Tan Thoi Nhi Commune Health Station, Hoc Mon District, was built in 2015 and has now seriously degraded with leaky ceilings and mossy walls. Although it has been repaired and waterproofed many times, it has not been fixed. When it rains heavily, water pours down and the floor is flooded. We and the patients are all looking forward to the station being repaired and upgraded. According to the city's plan, in the fourth quarter of 2023, the station will be renovated and undergo major repairs, but so far nothing has been done,” said pharmacist Nguyen Thi Thu Thao, Deputy Head of the Tan Thoi Nhi Commune Health Station.

Small hospital space

Meanwhile, many medical centers and district hospitals are also seriously degraded, waiting for a "new look" soon. District 4 Hospital has 2 facilities. Facility 1 at 63-65 Ben Van Don Street, with a total floor area of ​​over ^6,200m2 , including 4 rows of buildings (ABCD) with a scale of 1 ground floor, 4 floors; Facility 2 at 2 Le Quoc Hung Street, with a scale of 1 ground floor, 2 floors, an area of ^​​437m2 (both in Ward 12, District 4).

Old medical equipment, small treatment room at District 4 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: QUANG HUY

In these facilities, the tile floors are warped, the walls are leaking, the system of patient rooms is not up to standard, the equipment is old and outdated..., not meeting the needs of medical examination and treatment for the people. In November 2023, District 4 Hospital welcomed a monitoring delegation from the Standing Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council to monitor the implementation of the consolidation of "Improving the capacity of grassroots health care - Taking care of people's health" at the unit.

At the monitoring session, Mr. Le Truong Hai Hieu, Head of the Economic - Budget Committee, Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, had to exclaim: "If the hospital is cramped and suffocating due to small, seriously degraded facilities, how can we ensure medical examination and treatment for the people?"

“The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has included the construction of the new District 4 Hospital in the list of public investment projects for the 2026-2030 period, with a construction area of ​​nearly 3,600 square meters, a total estimated investment of 790 billion VND, of which 600 billion VND is for construction (equivalent to 300 planned beds) and 179 billion VND for purchasing medical equipment and supplies.... Up to now, we only know the plan to build a new hospital through the above policy. Hopefully, the hospital will start construction at the end of this year, only then can it meet the medical examination and treatment needs of the people in the area,” Dr. Do Thanh Tuan, Director of District 4 Hospital, hoped.

In the same situation, after nearly 18 years of operation, the facilities of Phu Nhuan District Hospital have seriously degraded. Despite the small area, most of the yard must be used as a parking lot to serve about 1,500-2,000 people coming to visit and receive medical treatment.

Faced with this situation, the People's Committee of Phu Nhuan District has decided to hand over the site at 128 Nguyen Trong Tuyen Street (Ward 8, Phu Nhuan District) - formerly the premises of Ngo May Secondary School, with an area of ^{​​993.8m2} - to build a new facility 2 of the hospital, with a total floor area of ^{​​4,978m2} , a total project investment of over 92 billion VND from the public budget, and project implementation time from 2018-2020. By 2024, the project implementation time was adjusted from 2023-2025, increasing the total investment to over 310 billion VND, expected to start construction in the fourth quarter of 2024.

“The joy is not complete when the land, although leveled and cleared since the end of 2024, is currently only surrounded by corrugated iron and fenced off outside,” said a representative of Phu Nhuan District Hospital.

Although Binh Thanh District Hospital has a construction area of ​​only 2,881m2 and a scale of 100 inpatient beds, it receives an average of 4,000 people coming for medical examination and treatment every day/nearly 400,000 people initially registered for health insurance at the unit. The hospital has made full use of the area to repair rooms, expand and build temporary houses, pharmacy rooms, and parking areas, but still cannot meet the needs of medical examination and treatment of the people.

In 2021, Binh Thanh District Hospital sent a document to the District People's Committee, and Binh Thanh District People's Committee also sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to approve the locality to transfer the house and land at 129 Le Van Duyet Street to become the second facility of the hospital (formerly the Ho Chi Minh City Cadre School). Up to now, the departments and branches are still in the process of reviewing and evaluating the implementation of the zoning plan in the area, while the land at 129 Le Van Duyet Street is deserted and overgrown with grass.

Mr. Nguyen Van Truong, Director of the HCM City Civil and Industrial Construction Investment Project Management Board - the investor of 146 health stations, said that the board has sent a document to the HCM City People's Committee requesting the suspension of the project until the city completes the arrangement and organization of the two-level local government apparatus, and moves the project to the 2026-2030 phase.

At the same time, the construction of Ward 1 and Ward 2 Health Stations was transferred to the People's Committee of Tan Binh District to speed up the project's progress. The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City assigned the Department of Construction to advise on whether to continue or suspend the project.

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* Dr. NGUYEN TRUNG HOA , Director of Go Vap District Medical Center, Ho Chi Minh City:

Need more drastic intervention

Go Vap District has 9/16 health stations that need major renovation and repair, with a total cost of about 15 billion VND, but for nearly 2 years now, no project has been implemented. In addition, Go Vap District Medical Center (No. 662-666 Le Duc Tho Street, Ward 15) is nearly 50 years old. Currently, the roof of area C has completely collapsed.

Area AB, consisting of 1 ground floor and 2 upper floors, is also seriously degraded; the roof drainage area is leaking, the surrounding walls and the walls separating the rooms are leaking and peeling. The entire staircase area is rotten, so the center has to barricade it and not allow it to be used… Day by day, we are always in a state of fear because the construction does not ensure the safety of the medical team.

On June 4, the center continued to send a document to the People's Committee of Go Vap District requesting consideration and approval for the center to continue implementing the repair and renovation project of the center according to Decision No. 204/QD-UBND dated January 21, 2025 of the People's Committee of Go Vap District. Hopefully, this proposal will be approved by the district.

* Associate Professor, Dr. DO VAN DUNG , Head of Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City:

Invest heavily in infrastructure

Many health stations, medical centers, and district-level hospitals in the city have not received investment in synchronous facilities, are seriously degraded, have old and outdated equipment, and lack human resources...

Therefore, the city needs to continue to strengthen human resources; invest heavily in infrastructure, and soon start construction of new hospital projects that are being "covered" so that the grassroots health sector can be truly strong and the medical staff can work with peace of mind. Only by doing these things can grassroots health contribute to solving the problem of overload at the upper level.

AN KHANH

QUANG HUY

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nhanh-chong-cai-tao-tram-y-te-post799405.html