Hanoi Spends $15.47M on Upgrading Obstetrics Hospital to Ease Overload

The Health Department in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi on June 4 started upgrading an obstetrics hospital with a total investment of VND325 billion ($15.47 million), state media reported Wednesday. Under the project scheduled for completion in 2015, the Hanoi Obstetrics Hospital will be built on an area of 12.6 hectares, including a nine-floor building for outpatient treatment. The 100-bed hospital was built in 1979 and is now in serious need of renovation. In the past ten years, the facility has always been overcrowded. On May 18, Hanoi also began upgrading and expanding Ba Vi General Hospital with VND500 billion. According to Head of the department Nguyen Khac Hien, the projects are part of continued efforts to reduce the overload at hospitals in the inner districts amid rising population and environmental pollution. Currently, Hanoi is home to 32 medical units run by the Ministry of Health, nine hospitals run by other ministries and 40 general and specialist hospitals run by the city itself. Hanoi plans to spend VND1.4 trillion on healthcare projects this year, soaring by 50% from a year earlier. (http://baodientu.chinhphu.vn June 4, An Ninh Thu Do – Capital Security June 5 p2)