The Oncology Hospital HCM City No 2 has been built in District 9 and will be inaugurated in September 2020. — Photo from Courtesy of HCM City Health Department

Dr Nguyen Tan Binh, director of the city Department of Health, said the construction of many medical facilities since 2015 shows the great efforts made by the city to meet public demand for healthcare.

One of the biggest achievements is the construction of the 74ha Tan Kien Medical Complex in Binh Chanh District.

Some 34ha of land has been cleared, with a 21ha area earmarked for dormitories for medical students, lodging for patients, parking lots, and other support facilities. It will also be used for a medical laboratory, an emergency ward and a blood bank.

Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

Construction of a children’s hospital has been finished, and it will open this year. It is expected that Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine’s haematology division, and a medical laboratory for doing tests will become operational by the end of this year.

Construction of the 1,000-bed Oncology Hospital HCM City No 2 has also been completed, and it will open in September this year.

Construction works at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine at the Tan Kien Healthcare Complex is set to begin soon, ground will be broken for the Cu Chi General Hospital and Hoc Mon General Hospital and a number of district-level hospitals will be upgraded.

Binh said the Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine had invested VND495 billion (over US$21 million) in building a forensic science centre.

According to figures released by the department, the number of doctors in HCM City has risen from 16.07 per 10,000 population in 2016 to 20 doctors now.

The number of nurses has increased from 33.34 to 35 per 10,000 residents.

Binh added that 25 physicians from the Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine have been granted licences to practise as doctors in Germany.  VNS

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