HCM City (VNA) 🌊- More hospitals will be upgraded or newly built in Ho Chi Minh City this year to reduce the number of patients who have to share a bed, the municipal Department of Health has said.

HCM City has the highest number of beds (42) per 10,000 people in the country, but patient overloading remains a problem. At a press meeting on January 22, Dr Tang Chi Thuong, the department's deputy head, said that building new facilities and upgrading existing hospitals was one of 10 measures that could reduce patient overload. He said that work on the second branch of the Oncology Hospital in District 9 would begin this year. With a capacity of 1,000 beds, the branch will help reduce the existing patient overload in the Oncology Hospital in Binh Thanh district. Another paediatrics hospital, to be named City Paediatrics Hospital, with 1,000 beds, is expected to open later this year, Thuong said. The city has two hospitals specialising in treatment for children, but they cannot meet demand because of the high number of children coming from neighbouring provinces and cities. Nearly 60 percent of the patients at the two hospitals live in these provinces and cities. Thuong said the Tu Du, Binh Dan, Paediatric Hospital No.1 and 2, An Binh, Hung Vuong, and Nguyen Trai, among others, will receive an upgrade this year. The city will also renovate district hospitals in Binh Chanh, Cu Chi, Go Vap and others. Residents are beginning to place more trust in local hospitals, Thuong said. Dr Vuong Anh Tai, deputy head of the department's medical affairs division, said the number of patients last year reached more than 10.8 million, a rise of 2 percent compared to 2014. There was a 3 percent increase in the number of outpatient turns at these hospitals. Tai said the hospital management had made efforts to improve quality at the hospitals. Through quality assessment was conducted last year by the department's council for quality control, only four of 23 district hospitals scored slightly under 3 out of the maximum 5. Of the district hospitals with the score of 3 and above, Thu Duc district Hospital had the same quality as city-level hospitals like Paediatric Hospital No.1 and 2, Tu Du Obstetrics Hospital, Hospital for Hematology and Blood Transfusion and Traditional Medical Institute, with a score of 4. Tai said that with improved quality, patients at these hospitals were more satisfied with service. The department's survey of patient's satisfaction among all private and public hospitals in the city showed scores of above 3 out of maximum score of 5. Thuong said the city had invested in modern equipment at these hospitals. Moreover, many satellite rooms, wards, hospitals and a programme on temporarily sending city-level hospital doctors to district hospitals to provide guidance and treatment had helped to improve quality.-VNA