The Hanoi Health Department on June 4 commenced a project to upgrade the municipal Hospital of Obstetric and Gynecology, which is expected to cost nearly 325 billion VND (15.6 million USD).

The project, which is due for completion in 2015, consists of the construction of a nine-storey building for outpatient treatment on an area of over 12,600 square metres along with the upgrading of some other buildings and the acquisition of modern health equipment.

The project aims to improve the quality of health check-up and treatment services and meet the increasing demand for treatment of citizens and people from neighbouring provinces, which also helps reduce the overload at the National Obstetric and Gynecology Hospital .

The hospital was placed into operation in 1979 and accommodated 100 beds for patients. It has consistently been overloaded over the past decade although the capacity has been increased by 300 beds thanks to some renovations since 1996.-VNA