Degraded infrastructure, lack of investment affects health services in HCM City

HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The infrastructure and facilities of many healthcare centres and hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have been degrading for many years due to a lack of investment.

Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward Healthcare Centre in the city's District 1 is usually flooded after heavy rain.

The head of the centre, Truong Kim My, said that in the 20 years since she started working there, flooding has become more of an issue.

"The centre has degraded more and more, but when we asked for funding to fix it, the answer is 'you'll have to wait'," My said.

Pham Ngu Lao Ward Healthcare Centre in the same district looks like a small store, with a width of just five metres. The centre has no yard, parking, storehouse or garden for herbal plants.

Doctor Ly Thi Tuyet Hang said the first floor of the centre only has room for two or three tables.

"The examination area is also the emergency room, where the patients stay and medicines and equipment are stored," Hang said.

"During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the centre was responsible for dealing with a complicated area crowded with foreigners. Therefore, health workers must work very hard," Hang said.

Doctor Do Thi Tan, vice director of District 1's Healthcare Centre, said that the district had ten ward healthcare centres, but seven of them are degraded.

The district-level centre also branches into four locations, with one branch on Tran Hung Dao Street for tuberculosis treatment and another on Ma Lo Street for HIV/AIDS treatment.

Meanwhile, the city's Mental Health Hospital in District 5 is said to be one of the most degraded in the city.

A patient, 62-year-old Ngo Thi Minh Phu, said that she has been in and out of hospital in the past few years and is not surprised to see mossy walls, dirty floors and terrible toilets there. "There has been no change for years," she said.

At Hoc Mon General Hospital, medical workers usually wear plastic boots to receive patients; when it rains, the hospital's examination room floods.

The hospital director Dang Quoc Quan said that construction of a new hospital began in early 2021 but progress is slow.

Delayed projects

Ho Hai Truong Giang, Director of An Binh Hospital, said that under a project worth more than 600 billion VND that started in November 2021, the hospital's degraded medical examination and treatment blocks should be replaced with new ones.

The work was expected to complete in June this year, but as of last month, the construction site was empty apart from a few workers and vehicles, Giang said.

Similarly, the construction of Cu Chi General Hospital in Tan An Hoi commune is far behind schedule.

With a total investment of 1.8 trillion VND, the construction of the new hospital on an area of 60,000 sq.m was started in January 2021 and is expected to complete within 36 months.

Nguyen Hoai Nam, vice director of the city's Health Department, said that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction work of the units faced difficulties and must be delayed.

Additionally, fluctuations in the price of construction materials have delayed contractors as they wait for prices to decrease, Nam said.

"Through inspections, many contractors said they were willing to pay compensation for the delay. However, if they continue to do the work, they could lose tens of billions of đồng because of escalating prices," Nam said.

In addition, due to the end of the implementation period, some projects had to be stopped and wait for an extension of the construction period.

According to the municipal People's Committee, in the medium-term public investment plan for 2015-2020, the health sector has 109 projects approved with a proposed investment of 23.327 trillion VND.

By the end of 2020, 39 projects were completed and put into use, including the construction project of HCM City Children's Hospital, Go Vap District General Hospital, and Phase 2 of Hung Vuong Hospital.

This year, some projects are expected to be completed, such as the construction project of Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital 2, a high-tech cardiovascular treatment area project at Children's Hospital 1, and An Binh Hospital construction project phase 1. However, most of the other projects are behind schedule./.