The Health Minister witnessed overcrowding in HCM City’s hospitals

The minister first visited Ho Chi Minh City Turmour Hospital and found patients elbowing each other to force their way to get a medical check-up.

The hospital’s beds are currently holding to 2-3 patients. Patients in some hospitals had to lie underneath other patient’s beds. A patient said, “I consider it lucky to have a space under another bed because the corridors sometimes so crowded I wouldn’t have anywhere to rest.”

Doctor Le Hoang Minh, Director of the hospital, said, “The hospital has only 631 sick-beds but it is now serving 1,807 inpatients and 9,510 outpatients, therefore, sharing the beds and putting patients under the beds is unavoidable.”

The same situation was repeated at Paediatrics Hospital No. 1 and the Hospital for Traumatology & Orthopaedics.

Director of Paediatrics Hospital No. 1 Tang Chi Thuong said, “The hospital has seen an annual rise in patient numbers of 5-10%, while bed numbers remain almost unchanged. We’re operating at 136% of our capacity. The respiration, infection, newborn baby and digestion wards often experience a rate of over 200%.”

With limited land and rocketing population numbers, hospitals are buckling under the pressure. New hospitals continue to face site clearance problems, affecting their construction. Measures such as sending experienced doctors to local hospitals and the implementation of family doctors at a local level have not proved sufficiently effective to relieve the pressure on hospitals.

The minister acknowledged that regulations on medical check-ups were not strict enough; therefore, patients often didn’t bother visiting local hospitals and instead directly went to central health facilities, overloading major hospitals.

The minister planned to work with the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee today (November 29) to brainstorm suggestions to resolve the crisis.

A common scene in over-crowded hospitals