VietNamNet Bridge – Ho Chi Minh City authorities said they could reduce the city’s chronic patient overloading by up to 70 percent by 2015, with a required investment of about US$ 962 million in healthcare facilities.

Patients waiting for examination and treatment at the Oncology Hospital in HCMC. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Speaking at a live-broadcast program titled “Listening and Exchange” with the topic of “Reality and Solutions to Patient Overloading in HCMC” yesterday, Hua Ngoc Thuan, a deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee, said the city will seek investment to equip hospitals with about 5,000 new sickbeds.

The investment is estimated at VND20 trillion, or more than $962.4 million, of whichVND5 trillion will come from government bonds, VND3.5 trillion as contributions from businesses and social organizations, and the rest from other sources, Thuan said.

The city will also build and develop the family doctor model in districts, improve training for health workers and strengthen the preventive health networks, he said.

In the long run, more investment must be given to grassroots-level health units to improve their capabilities in medical examination and treatment, thereby easing the patient overloading at hospital of higher levels, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tan Binh, deputy director of HCMC Health Department, said.

For the time being, the city will send a number of doctors and nurses from the city-level hospitals to health units of lower levels to help them improve the quality of medical treatment, he said.

Last month, Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said the ministry has set up a project to alleviate patient overloading in large hospitals and thereby improve medical service quality.

Under the project, the health departments of Hanoi and HCMC and seven leading specialized hospitals, including Bach Mai, Viet Duc, Central Hue, Cho Ray, K, Central Obstetrics, and Central Pediatrics will take part in the project.

These units are required to boost administrative reforms, re-organize testing services in the “one-door” model, and set up a patient reception unit, among other practical measures.

All specialized hospitals in HCMC and Hanoi must formulate their own plans to combat patient overloading and the local authorities must watch over these plans, she said.

VietNamNet/Tuoi Tre