Achievements, challenges during social contribution in healthcare in Dong Nai

For years, healthcare sector in the southern province of Dong Nai is looking for more investment in the sector as the healthcare is set to grow. However, social contributions in healthcare sector have brought achievements as well as challenges.
Achievements, challenges during social contribution in healthcare in Dong Nai
The General Hospital Dong Nai, the General Thong Nhat Hospital, the General Hospital Long Khanh and the Children Hospital Dong Nai received most investment in the province.
Of 1,400 beds in the General Hospital Dong Nai, 700 beds are invested by individuals. Social contribution to the healthcare has helped bring the number of beds in hospitals to 1,984; accordingly, hospital beds (per 10,000 people) in the province was reported at 6.4.
Thanks to policies of social contribution to the healthcare sector, the province has over 3,236 private medical establishments including six hospitals, 769 general and specialized medical clinics, 110 traditional infirmaries and 2,230 pharmaceutical shops.
Private medical institutions are well equipped. VND490 billion (US$ 21 million) has been poured into investment of 49 private medical clinics. This is a huge investment in the healthcare sector to meet increasing patients’ demand.
Meantime, public infirmaries have borrowed VND200 billion from the state budget to buy machines such as CT scanner, MI, CT 2,4 tesla to improve treatment quality. So far, six hospitals in the province can carry out brain surgery, joint replacement, hip replacement, dialysis and cancer treatment.
However, brain drain worsens the already depleted healthcare resources in public hospitals. More and more good physicians from public infirmaries quit job to work in private clinics where pay higher salary.
Director of the Department of Health in Dong Nai Dr. Phan Huy Anh Vu admitted that good doctors' quitting in public medical institutions has been a problem of the province’s health sector.
Medicine students in Ho Chi Minh City want to reside in the big city; accordingly, it is very difficult to lure them to work in Dong Nai Province even local students.
Accordingly, Dr. Vu said that the government should allow Dong Nai to train medicine students in Dong Nai University with quota of 50- 70 students a year to supply personnel for public and non-public infirmaries.
Additionally, as he said, the Ministry and the Vietnam Insurance Agency should take heed of funding to help public hospitals with buying medicine and raising doctors’ and nurses’ salary.

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