Bach Mai Hospital wants to have more satellite hospitals in Nghe An

(Baonghean) - Becoming a satellite hospital will help improve the professional skills of doctors and the reputation of the medical examination and treatment facility. This also means that patients are guaranteed the right to benefit from high technology right in their locality, saving on treatment costs.

Opportunity for growth

In previous years, the Nam Dan District Medical Center was considered underdeveloped. People with serious or mild illnesses often flocked to hospitals in Vinh City for examination and treatment. Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyet, 64 years old, in Nam Dan town said: "Every time I get sick, I go to the provincial or city hospital for treatment. I know it's expensive to travel far, but to be honest, I don't trust the medical skills of the doctors in the district"...

Doctor Ho Son - Director of Nam Dan District Medical Center admitted: Every year, the District Medical Center examines and treats more than 80,000 patients, provides inpatient treatment for more than 10,000 patients and performs about 1,000 surgeries. However, the implementation of techniques is still limited; the number of patients who have to be transferred due to endocrine, cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary, digestive diseases... is still high.

The reason is that the infrastructure is old, equipment and human resources in all departments are lacking in quantity and poor in quality. Specialized departments do not have enough conditions to develop spearheads; there is a lack of doctors and specialized training staff...

Bach Mai Hospital delegation surveyed at Nam Dan District Medical Center. Photo: Tu Thanh

Amidst those difficulties, an opportunity came to Nam Dan District Medical Center when the leaders of Nghe An Department of Health learned that the Ministry of Health had signed a decision to allow 5 district-level hospitals to become satellites of Hanoi Medical University Hospital in July 2017. The Department of Health expressed the desire to build Nam Dan District Medical Center into a satellite of Bach Mai Hospital and was approved in principle by the Ministry of Health.

On September 11, 2017, the working group of Bach Mai Hospital came to survey and evaluate the current situation in order to build Nam Dan District Medical Center, Nghe An into a satellite unit of Bach Mai Hospital in the period of 2017 - 2020.

After the survey, Prof. Dr. Pham Minh Thong - Deputy Director of Bach Mai Hospital highly appreciated the determination of the industry and locality in building and developing Nam Dan District Medical Center.

Professor Thong said: “Bach Mai Hospital will provide maximum and comprehensive support to help Nam Dan District Medical Center become a satellite, increasingly improving the quality of medical examination and treatment. We focus on helping transfer techniques to Nam Dan District Medical Center in key specialties such as emergency resuscitation, artificial kidney, diagnostic imaging, trauma surgery, treatment and diagnosis of endocrine diseases, and training of specialist doctors (including 17 training packages)”.

Once recognized, leading doctors of Bach Mai Hospital will provide hands-on training for doctors and nurses of Nam Dan District Medical Center; establish an online information technology system, doctors of Bach Mai Hospital will directly advise and consult with patients for treatment...

This means that the quality of examination and treatment at the district health center is improved; patients in Nam Dan district and neighboring areas can enjoy high-tech services right in their locality without having to go to higher levels; and the load at higher-level hospitals is reduced.

Patients benefit

Currently, the project to build Nam Dan District Medical Center into a satellite unit of Bach Mai Hospital is being approved by the Provincial People's Committee, before submitting it to the Ministry of Health for decision. Bach Mai Hospital has also sent a document requesting the Ministry of Health to add Nam Dan District Medical Center and Cua Dong General Hospital to the list of satellite hospitals of Bach Mai Hospital for the period 2016 - 2020.

When Nam Dan District Medical Center and Cua Dong General Hospital are recognized, the medical examination and treatment network in Nghe An will have 5 units recognized as satellite hospitals of special-class hospitals at the Central level.

The fact that provincial hospitals have mastered advanced medical techniques transferred by the nuclear hospital has helped Nghe An patients, especially poor patients, enjoy high-tech services right in their locality, saving on travel and accommodation costs.

In addition, with the mutual relationship, seriously ill patients sent from provincial hospitals are all cared for and treated promptly by doctors at the central level. Patients sent, tests and diagnoses mean reduced costs for examination and treatment.

The Central Endocrinology Hospital transfers endoscopic thyroid surgery techniques to Nghe An Endocrinology Hospital. Photo: Thanh Chung

Similarly, Dr. Pham Vinh Hung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Oncology Hospital said: Since 2013, the Hospital has been a satellite hospital of the Central Cancer Hospital. In the past 4 years, the Hospital has learned a series of techniques such as head and neck cancer surgery, abdominal gastrointestinal cancer, gynecological and urological cancer surgery and radiotherapy techniques for some gastrointestinal and abdominal cancers, creating a successful premise for the Center for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine to launch in 2018...

Dr. Hung analyzed: “The cost of medical examination and treatment of cancer at the central and provincial levels is exactly the same. What the patient gets is the cost of accommodation, travel, and the cost of family members accompanying them for care.”

In addition to the calculable costs, receiving high-tech treatment locally also brings intangible benefits. Teacher Chu Thi Van in Hung Dung Ward, Vinh City, who had endoscopic thyroid surgery using the "Dr. Luong" technique at Nghe An Endocrinology Hospital, shared: "The incision from the armpit and under the chest goes up with a small skin incision, only 1cm long at most, leaving the smallest scar, effective in terms of aesthetics. This is very meaningful to a teacher like me.

Surgery in Nghe An only took about 30 minutes, after 1 week I fully recovered, helping me not to be away from school for too long"... It is known that such a surgery in Singapore or Korea costs from 6-10 thousand USD, while in Nghe An it only costs about 300 USD.

Building satellite hospitals has been and is the direction to develop Nghe An into a high-tech medical center in the North Central region. In the coming time, Nghe An Health Department will continue to promote satellite hospital projects, step up technology transfer, apply information technology and train human resources for Internet consultation services to bring practical benefits to patients - said Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Deputy Director of Nghe An Health Department.

T. Chung - T. Thanh