The Ho Chi Minh City Mental Health Hospital's third campus was officially inaugurated on Sep 11 at No.957, 3 Thang 2 Street in Minh Phung Ward. The facility, previously used by the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, was transferred to the hospital to provide more spacious and appropriate conditions for treating young patients.
Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Loc, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, attended the inauguration.
Dr. Nguyen Dang Khoa, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Mental Health Hospital, said the new campus was developed on the foundation of the hospital's Department of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Nearly 500 patients were seen during the facility's first two days of operation, highlighting strong demand for mental health services among children and adolescents.
With more space and improved treatment conditions, the hospital plans to develop a more comprehensive, specialized, and child-friendly model of mental healthcare.
Dr. Nguyen Dang Khoa said mental health among children and adolescents was becoming increasingly important as young people faced growing pressure from school, family life, their living environment, social media, and technology.
Early intervention, he said, could play a critical role not only in addressing psychological and psychiatric problems but also in shaping a child's long-term development.
The hospital plans to expand screening and early diagnosis services to identify mental health disorders and psychological difficulties sooner. It will also strengthen psychological interventions and rehabilitation programs, gradually introduce a day-treatment model, develop multidisciplinary care, and train more specialized staff.
Under the planned day-treatment model, children could participate in therapy and rehabilitation programs during the day while maintaining regular contact with their families and communities.
The new facility is also intended to address longstanding infrastructure constraints at the hospital's child psychology and psychiatry department, where overcrowding and cramped conditions had placed considerable pressure on young patients, their families, and medical staff.
City authorities subsequently reviewed the healthcare facility network and decided to renovate and repurpose the former Center for Disease Control premises as a larger, safer treatment site for children.
Speaking at the inauguration, Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Loc praised the hospital's medical staff and said the opening represented more than an expansion of physical space.
The new campus, he said, would provide children with better treatment conditions, more room for daily activities and greater opportunities for rehabilitation, social integration, and healthy development.
He called on the hospital to make full use of the new facility, arrange medical equipment and beds according to the specific needs of psychiatric patients, and continue improving the treatment environment, with patient safety as the highest priority.
The hospital was also asked to strengthen inpatient and day treatment, with greater emphasis on psychological counseling and intervention, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.
Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Loc urged closer cooperation with the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, socio-political organizations, and community groups to mobilize additional resources and improve recreational and activity spaces for children.
Cooperation with the education sector should also be strengthened to connect the healthcare system with social protection facilities and specialized education institutions, helping children with psychological or psychiatric conditions maintain access to education and integrate into the community.
He suggested that the hospital consider piloting classes for children receiving inpatient treatment so their education would not be interrupted by illness.
The city is also planning broader investment in psychiatric healthcare infrastructure. Authorities will review options for relocating the hospital's first campus to a larger and better-equipped site.
By 2028, Ho Chi Minh City aims to develop a mental health hospital on a site of more than 3.6 hectares, along with a three-hectare psychiatric nursing center with 1,000 beds.
The projects are intended to gradually build a mental healthcare system with sufficient capacity, infrastructure, and professional expertise to meet the needs of the city's population.
At the inauguration, the Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations presented the new campus with a children's playground worth VND70 million.
City leaders have emphasized that healthcare investment, restructuring and expansion must put patients at the center. Support for vulnerable groups should be reflected in better care, improved treatment facilities, and concrete measures that uphold the principle of "leaving no one behind," said Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Loc, Member of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee.
