Improving the quality of healthcare in Con Dao Special Zone

With the motto of "leaving no one behind", even in the farthest places, the Ho Chi Minh City health sector will soon increase investment in facilities and medical staff to improve the capacity of the Con Dao Special Zone's health sector.

Limited medical examination and treatment capacity

Brought to the emergency room with chest pain and difficulty breathing due to the consequences of war, along with many chronic non-communicable diseases, Mr. Do Van Hai (70 years old, residing in residential area No. 5, Con Dao Special Zone, Ho Chi Minh City) was quickly examined and given first aid by doctors and nurses of the Con Dao Military Medical Center. His health gradually stabilized, Mr. Hai was transferred to the inpatient room for further monitoring and treatment.

“Whether the center has many or few patients, everyone is examined carefully and treated carefully by the medical team, but mainly for common illnesses. The island is 97 nautical miles away from the mainland, so if anyone is unfortunately seriously ill, the whole family is worried and anxious because they have to wait for a boat, a plane, and favorable weather to be taken to the mainland for treatment,” Mr. Hai confided.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu (a tourist from Khanh Hoa) shared that this was her second time returning to Con Dao. What she and other tourists are still concerned about is that the island's health care service is not up to par with the development of the " tourist paradise". "No one wants to have to use medical services when visiting the island, but if the place where we are staying has the capacity to receive and handle health incidents well, we will feel much more secure", Ms. Thu said.

Senior Lieutenant, military doctor Bui Nguyen Thanh Nam examines and treats patients at the Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center. Photo: TRUC GIANG

According to Dr. Le Cong Tho, Director of the Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center, the center currently has a scale of 100 beds (phase 1 operates 60 beds; phase 2 adds 40 beds), with 4 clinical and paraclinical departments, 1 Department of Disease Control and Food Hygiene and Safety, 1 pharmacy department, and 3 functional rooms. The total number of medical staff working at the center is 74 people, including 16 doctors.

On average, each year, the center receives and treats more than 26,000 outpatients, performing 170-200 surgeries. Patients are not only island residents, officers and soldiers of the armed forces, but also tourists and fishermen from other localities.

“However, medical examination and treatment are mainly carried out according to the general medical model, without specialized departments such as pediatrics, obstetrics, ear, nose and throat, etc. This somewhat limits the ability to meet the needs of specialized medical examination and treatment of the people, and does not create peace of mind for tourists when coming to the island for tourism,” said Dr. Le Cong Tho.

MD, PhD TRAN VAN KHANH, Director of Le Van Thinh Hospital, HCMC:

Ready to send good doctors to support

The hospital has prepared both human and material resources to support the Con Dao Special Zone when the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health requests. The number of doctors, nurses, and technicians willing to volunteer to go to the island is over 10 people.

In the immediate future, the hospital will select 2-3 staff members, with a working period of 3-12 months. These are doctors and nurses with good expertise in internal medicine, surgery, and traditional medicine, with the aim that after completing their volunteer work, they will help the Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center build a team of good doctors in these specialties. To help them feel secure in their work, in addition to the city's general policies, the hospital will provide additional support of 3-5 million VND/person/month, depending on the position.

MD, PhD DO TAN KHOA, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Hospital of Traditional Medicine:

Specialized training in traditional medicine

As a final hospital for traditional medicine treatment in the Southern region, when requested by the city's health sector, we will send a team of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists to strengthen support for Con Dao health care. At the same time, we are ready to train on-site or at the Con Dao Military and Civilian Medical Center for medical staff on advanced treatment using traditional medicine; support NETCOM software for medical examination and treatment, prescription and non-drug methods of traditional medicine developed by the hospital itself...

QUANG HUY recorded

Strengthening human resources and investing in facilities

To help the healthcare sector of Con Dao Special Zone develop to its full potential, at the 6-month review conference recently organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, comrade Nguyen Phuoc Loc, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, emphasized: "It is necessary to accelerate investment in modern medical facilities and equipment and send experts, physicians and doctors to support the healthcare sector of Con Dao Special Zone, with the motto "no one is left behind", even in the farthest places".

Receiving the above directive, the city's health sector immediately deployed an action program, divided into 2 phases. According to the plan, in phase 1 (quarter 3-2025), volunteer doctors will be rotated from the city to work in Con Dao on the occasion of September 2 this year.

Dr. Vo Duc Hieu, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital, said that the hospital is ready to promote health education and communication to raise awareness of cancer prevention for the people; train and transfer techniques directly and online to doctors and medical staff of Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center to improve the capacity of basic diagnosis and treatment of cancer; organize remote medical consultation and treatment programs to help patients in Con Dao Special Zone to receive consultation, diagnosis and treatment advice from leading doctors in the field of cancer at Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital.

At the same time, the hospital is also ready to receive patients from the special zone for examination, screening and treatment at the hospital. When there is a higher demand from the industry to develop the oncology specialty in the special zone, the hospital is ready to send a medical team to work at the Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center on a rotational basis as assigned.

In recent times, many businesses have also actively accompanied the city's health care system in improving the quality of primary health care. In particular, Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Joint Stock Company (BSR) recently donated to the special zone's health center many modern medical equipment for the RO water system used in blood filtration, artificial kidney dialysis machine, filter washing machine used in blood filtration, 64-slice CT Scanner system, mobile X-ray machine, biochemical and immunological testing system, HbA1C testing machine, blood coagulation meter, equipment for washing and drying medical instruments, supplies and chemicals... worth 20 billion VND.

Mr. Le Anh Tu, Secretary of the Con Dao Special Zone Party Committee, said that the people and the special zone government were very excited and happy to receive special attention from the city and social resources. This is an opportunity to improve the quality of medical examination and treatment services at the Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center in the coming time. In addition to completing the management team (currently, the center is still lacking 2 deputy directors and some department and faculty heads), the locality is also speeding up the renovation and repair of official houses, building more apartments to provide stable accommodation for the team of medical experts, doctors, officers, civil servants and public employees from the mainland who come to work on the island.

The Secretary of the Con Dao Special Zone Party Committee also proposed: “Previously, doctors, medical staff, civil servants, and public employees working on the island were entitled to special policies, including long-term work allowances, first-time allowances, regional allowances, retirement allowances, regional allowances, health sector allowances according to their level of expertise... In addition, this team was also supported with an additional 2.3 million VND/person/month from the local budget according to Resolution No. 16/2020/NQ-HDND of the former Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. Therefore, in addition to maintaining the above policies, Ho Chi Minh City needs to continue to have special preferential policies such as: increasing allowances according to Resolution 98, building a mechanism to support accompanying relatives, improving the living and working environment on the island...".

Phu Quoc Special Economic Zone

Building medical facilities that meet international standards

In addition to the Medical Center, Phu Quoc Special Zone (An Giang province) has many private medical facilities, Vinmec International Hospital, etc., basically meeting the medical examination and treatment needs of local people and tourists.

Faced with the rapid development of the “pearl island”, Phu Quoc is investing heavily in the healthcare sector to improve the quality of healthcare services and attract tourism. Specifically, the two projects An Thoi International Hospital and Phu Quoc Sun Hospital are expected to be completed by the end of 2025. These two hospitals not only provide international standard healthcare services to the people, but also create peace of mind for tourists when coming to Phu Quoc for vacation.

The Phu Quoc Sun Hospital project, invested by Sun Group, aims to provide international-standard healthcare services, attract tourists and improve the quality of life for Phu Quoc residents. The project will be the "piece" that further perfects the Sun Paradise Land luxury tourism ecosystem, with 5-star resorts and international-class entertainment complexes that Sun Group has built over the past decade in Phu Quoc.

HUMAN HEART

TRUC GIANG - QUANG HUY

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nang-chat-y-te-dac-khu-con-dao-post803768.html