Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended a ceremony on December 13 to launch the construction of two new hospitals in Phu Ly city of northern Ha Nam province.

The new hospitals are branches of Vietnam-Germany Friendship and Bach Mai Hospitals in Hanoi, two leading medical establishments in the country.

They are among five new modern hospitals to be built under a Prime Minister-approved projects aiming at easing the burden on major hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Built at an investment of nearly 5 trillion VND (235 million USD) on an area of 21 hectares, the new facility of Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital is designed to be a surgical centre with 1,000 beds.

Meanwhile, the new branch of Bach Mai Hospital will be a general hospital with 1,000 beds and capable of providing treatment for serious cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory diseases.

The two hospitals are scheduled to become fully operational in December 2017.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said that once operational the two new facilities will help ease the current overload at the Vietnam-Germany Friendship and Bach Mai Hospitals, and improve medical care for patients in the region.-VNA