Dr. Vu Tien Giang anh his colleagues
Doctor Phan Thanh Tung, Head of the Health Station of Vinh Loc A Commune in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Chanh District was both completing the application for people infected with Covid in the district and replying people's questions such as ‘Doctor, two people in my family have tested positive for the coronavirus, what should we do?’, ‘Doctor, my mother is isolated at home and has begun to have breathing problem’, ‘ How can I sign up for a vaccine?’.
Located in an area with the population of about 170,000 people, the Vinh Loc A Commune healthcare station has only 10 medical staff but the station sometimes received up to 300 cases of Covid-19 patients.
In early December 2021, this health center still has to manage more than 1,500 cases of Covid-19 at home although the southern largest city passed the peak of the Covid-19 epidemic.
Over the past six months, 10 medical staff of the station worked day and night, staying in the station. Some medical staff ought to send their children to grandparents, others living with old parents entrust their neighbors, all stayed at the medical station around the clock, said doctor Phan Thanh Tung.
Bordering between Ho Chi Minh City and the Southern Province of Binh Duong, Thu Duc City’s Binh Chieu Ward is home to two export processing zones Binh Chieu, Linh Trung 2 and Thu Duc wholesale market, with about 80,000 residents.
Two thirds of people are living in dilapidated houses. During the fourth wave of Covid-19 hitting the southern metropolis lately, the ward had 7,509 people infected with coronavirus or an average of 100 new Covid-19 cases per day.
Doctor Le Ba Kong, Head of the Medical Station of Binh Chieu Ward recalled those stressful days that medical workers in the health station worked around the clock and the station’s hotline was constantly ringing; worse, there was a shortage of personal protective gears, epidemic prevention equipment and the station had no choice but asked benefactors to give ambulances and medicine.
‘Mot doi khong quen’ (A unforgettable months) is the memory of grassroots medical staff when talking about the peak time of the fourth wave of Covid-19 epidemic. Doctor Nguyen Van Mot from the Medical Station of Dong Hung Thuan Ward in District 12 said that he and his colleagues had no concept of weekends.
Some employees were exposed to Covid-19 during work, but they had low viral load, so they still had to go to work because it was difficult to find a replacement for them.
Doctor Bui Van Tuan, head of the Medical Station of in District 8 remembered that people blamed sluggish treatment for medical staff even the shortage of ambulance for transferring serious cases, the overloading.
There was a severe shortage of medical staff whereas the number of Covid-19 patients is increasing day by day. Medical workers in tight, sweaty protective suits silently work relentlessly in these stressful days to fight the pandemic despite harsh working conditions and low salary.
In return for that hard work, all medical workers found themselves becoming more and more experienced in completing the process of receiving and treating Covid-19 patients quickly and effectively.
At the Medical Station of Ward 22, Binh Thanh District, after the army force withdrew, five staff members had to take care of all tasks including taking samples for testing, inputting data, answering the phone, taking care of infected patients, giving injections and administering vaccines to residents in the area.
Head of the Medical Station of Ward 22 Ngo Thi Minh Thu shared that during the stressful time of the epidemic, thanks to the army force’s assistance, the ward established five mobile medical stations which are responsible for each residential block.
During the fourth Covid-19 outbreak, grassroots medical stations in districts play an extremely important role. They suffer much pressure of the front line, especially early detection and care of people infected with Covid-19.
Having worked with the health station for the past 20 years, the salary of Doctor Phan Thanh Tung, Head of the Health Station of Vinh Loc A Commune, Binh Chanh District, is less than VND6 million a month, while other staff members are about VND 4-5 million a month. With the love for the profession, they still finish their tasks.
Every day, riding a motorbike from the Mekong Delta Province of Tien Giang to District 1, Ho Chi Minh City to work is the situation of doctor Vu Tien Giang, an employee of the Medical Station of Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, District 1. With a salary of less than VND5 million a month which is not enough to rent accommodation and cover living expenses,
Dr. Giang must ride between Tien Giang Province and HCMC every day. During stressful epidemic days, Mr. Giang was almost always at the station. Fortunately, his wife takes care of everything in the house, so he is still dedicated to the profession.
