A general health clinic opened at a health centre at District 3’s ward 11 thanks to private sector investment (Source: VNA) The department encourages district-level generalhospitals to open a satellite general health clinic at ward-level healthcentres, which are mostly in charge of disease prevention and management ofnational health programmes.
Following the encouragement, Tan Phu DistrictGeneral Hospital opened a satellite general health clinic at the health centrein Tay Thanh Ward on May 19.
The hospital’s doctors work at the clinic andtrain the doctors at the health centre to improve their qualifications.
These doctors also help create trust from localresidents to go to the clinic for health examinations and treatment, reducingtheir visits to Tan Phu District General Hospital, which is overcrowded.
More than 3,000 patients go to the hospital forhealth examinations and treatment every day.
The satellite general health clinic at the TayThanh Ward health centre is the third such clinic, following the first two inBinh Chieu and Hiep Binh Chanh wards. Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, deputy head of thecity Department of Health, said that such clinics would be expanded to otherdistricts in the city.
According to Dr. Nguyen Tan Binh, thedepartment’s head, said that the city needs investment from the private sectorin developing and upgrading facilities at ward-level health centres because ofthe state’s limited budget.
The health centre at District 3’s ward 11 is thefirst to receive private investment.
Viet Anh Medical Joint Stock Company hasupgraded the health centre to become a general health clinic with wardsincluding obstetrics, traditional medicine and others.
The clinic is also equipped with machines fortesting, ultrasound and X-ray diagnosis.
Moreover, thanks to the investment, the centrehas also added doctors and other health staff.
It was opened to serve local residents on May 19.
Pham Manh Hung, head of the health centre atDistrict 3’s Ward 11, said that the clinic at the centre was expected toattract more patients after being upgraded.
Phan Quoc Viet of the Viet Anh Medical JointStock Company said that more than 80 percent of patients went to major cityhospitals to treat common diseases which health centres at wards could treat.
A modern general health clinic at a centre withgood healthcare services would help attract local patients with commondiseases, Viet said, adding that this would help reduce overcrowding at thecity or central-level.
Binh said that the model of private sectorinvestment in ward-level health centre would be expanded throughout Districts3, 1, 2, Phu Nhuan, and Nha Be.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long saidthat HCM City was the first locality to attract investment from the privatesector in ward-level health centres.
This investment should be encouraged becausemany health centres in wards throughout the country were in need of upgrading,Long said.
Developed ward-level health centres would helpprovide better primary healthcare service to local residents, he added.
He told the city Department of Health’s managersto regularly monitor and inspect the operation of the general health clinics toensure rights of patients in examinations and treatment. -VNA
VNA
