Authorities in Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi have approved a project on building a general hospital with an estimated capital of VND2.7 trillion ($127.96 million) worth of the municipal budget fund in the outlying district of Me Linh, state media reported. Located on a site of 119,000 square meters in Dai Thinh and Tam Dong communes, the hospital will have 1,000 sickbeds aimed at better serving local people and easing the severe overload at public hospitals. The project will be implemented in the 2014-2017 period. The municipal Heath Department has upgraded a series of healthcare facility, namely the VND500-billion Ba Vi General Hospital and a VND325-billion obstetrics hospital, as part of its efforts to reduce the overload at hospitals in the inner districts. Hanoi now has 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. The city plans to spend VND1.4 trillion on healthcare projects this year, up 50% from a year earlier. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te Viet Nam – Vietnam Economic Times Dec 4 p2, Dau Tu – Investment Dec 4 p3)
