More medical clinics launched for foreigners in Vietnam

A doctor performs the surgery for refractive errors on a patient. Hanoi’s E Hospital launches a department for request-based outpatient and international services and a department of allergy, immunology and dermatology on June 28. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi’s E Hospital launched a department for request-based outpatient and international services and a department of allergy, immunology and dermatology on June 28.

The opening of the two new departments takes the hospital one step closer to the goal of becoming a prestigious, renowned university-hospital domestically and internationally as well as a leading general hospital under the management of the Ministry of Health in Hanoi.

The E Hospital’s Deputy Director Nguyen Cong Huu said all medical procedures performed by the department for request-based outpatient and international services have been standardised in accordance with standards set by the Ministry of Health and international ones to meet increasing demand.

The department has nine general consulting rooms, six specialised consulting rooms and an endoscopy unit, equipped with modern facilities.

People can make appointments with leading doctors and specialists via the department’s hotline.

The waiting area provides patients with an airy space, TV and free wi-fi services.

The establishment of the department of allergy, immunology and dermatology at the E Hospital was prompted by a rise in allergic and immunological diseases, such as Asthma, Systemic lupus erythematosus, drug allergies, food allergies and weather allergies. In Vietnam, in many cases, people buy medicine themselves to treat diseases without consulting doctors, making their condition worse.

Therefore, the hospital expects the newly-launched department of allergy, immunology and dermatology offering high-quality treatment services for this type of disease will be a popular clinic among people.

The E Hospital is a first-grade general hospital managed by the Ministry of Health. The hospital provides services for about 300,000 outpatients and over 200,000 in-patients per year. It has transformed into a university hospital that combines services of a hospital with the education and training of medical personnel and medical research.

The hospital opens from 6:30 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 17:00 from Monday to Saturday.

Also on June 28, Nguyen Huy Quang, head of the Ministry of Health’s Legal Department, presented an operation licence to the DND International Eye Hospital in the northern province of Hai Duong.

It is the first private eye hospital meeting international standards in Hai Duong. It is expected to help ease overloads in local public hospitals and attract foreign patients.

Improved healthcare services, especially for emergency treatments, have helped attract more foreign patients, including expatriates living and working in Vietnam, travellers and visitors.

Dr John Lucas, CEO of the City International Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said: “The hospital has been very successful with many recent emergency cases that have saved thousands of lives of medical tourists, especially heart attack and trauma incidents, as well as injuries from road accidents.”

“We want to promote Vietnam as a medical hub of Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific,” Lucas added.

Last year, the hospital admitted nearly 16,000 foreigners and overseas Vietnamese, including 4,000 from Cambodia.

The hospital, which has English-speaking staff, works with the 115 Emergency Aid Centre to receive foreigners for emergency treatment.

The hospital also cooperates with domestic and foreign private health insurance companies, creating favourable conditions for payment.

According to the Ministry of Health, hospitals provided healthcare services to more than 300,000 foreign patients, including 57,000 inpatients, in 2019. This has increased from 234,000 in 2014. Of these, there were more than 26,000 inpatients.

Services provided to foreigners included dentistry, vascular intervention, and oncology.  

These figures reflect positive signals for the country’s health sector, then Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said at a meeting with the media held last year./.