Why is the Hoang Mai Town Medical Center construction project still lingering?
(Baonghean.vn) - Although it was approved nearly 10 years ago and construction started more than 4 years ago, the Hoang Mai Town Medical Center Construction Project (Phase 1) has yet to be completed. This has affected the medical examination and treatment needs of local people.
Old, dilapidated facilities
Hoang Mai Town Medical Centerwas established in 2014 under Decision No. 1577/QD-UBND of the Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, with 50 medical staff transferred from Quynh Luu District General Hospital and Quynh Luu District Preventive Medicine Center.
By August 2020, this unit merged the Hoang Mai Town Population - Family Planning Center into the Town Health Center and simultaneously performed 3 functions: prevention, frontline direction and medical examination and treatment, population quality - family planning.
Currently, on average, this unit examines and treats about 200-250 outpatients and 120-140 inpatients every day.
Immediately after its establishment, Hoang Mai Town Medical Center took over the Hoang Mai Regional General Clinic (old clinic) in its original state, located right on National Highway 1, with a 2-storey building right at the main entrance and a dilapidated level 4 building.
After many years of "making do with what's left", the unit now has an additional 2-storey technical building to be used as a Paraclinical department and operating room system; a row of level 4 houses in the back as an inpatient treatment area; and the old level 4 house has been renovated and upgraded to be used as an emergency area and to treat pediatric patients.
However, according to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh - Head of the Administrative Organization Department of Hoang Mai Town Medical Center, the current facilities do not meet the increasing demand for medical examination, treatment, and health care of the people. The center has 91 doctors, nurses, officers, and employees with 13 departments. However, the departments are having to share rooms to make room for hospital beds.
In particular, at its current location, every year the Hoang Mai Town Medical Center has to endure flooding whenever Vuc Mau Lake discharges water. Each time, the departments on the first floor have to pack up their belongings and move them to higher floors, which is very inconvenient and damages equipment.
New projects lack consistency
To meet the needs of medical examination and treatment for local people, since 2015 (ie 1 year after its establishment), the Provincial People's Council issued Decision No. 98/QD-HDND dated October 30, 2015 approving the Project to build Hoang Mai Town Medical Center (phase 1).
By October 31, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee also approved the detailed planning of the project. In particular, phase 1 was built with a scale of 100 hospital beds, with items such as: 5-storey medical examination and treatment building; in addition, there are also auxiliary items such as: ground floor; parking lot; security guard house; generator and fire pump house, domestic water supply; wastewater treatment pump operator house; water tank; outdoor water supply system; drainage system; fence...
The total initial investment of this project is more than 63.3 billion VND, of which the central budget is more than 59.683 billion VND, the town budget is more than 3.688 billion VND. The project started on March 11, 2020, with an implementation schedule of 4 years.
After several adjustments, the total investment of phase 1 of this project has been increased to 66,315 billion VND. Of which, the central budget investment remains at 59,683 billion VND and the budget of Hoang Mai town has increased to 6,632 billion VND. In addition, the project has been extended for 1 more year (until March 11, 2025).
Hoang Mai Town Medical Center is built in a convenient location in the new planning area of Mai Hung Ward (Hoang Mai Town) and is located near the local administrative center. Currently, phase 1 of this project has completed about 95% of the construction volume, but cannot be put into operation yet.
There are two main reasons why phase 1 of the project had to be extended. The first is that the fire prevention and fighting plan has not been assessed. The reason is that when this project was approved and designed for construction, the regulations on fire prevention and fighting have not been strictly adjusted.
By November 30, 2022, the Ministry of Construction issued Circular No. 06/2022/TT-BXD on QCVN 06:2022/BXD clearly stipulating the National Technical Regulation on fire safety for houses and constructions. This Circular takes effect from February 16, 2023, therefore, the fire prevention and fighting system in the project must be adjusted. By December 7, 2023, the People's Council of Nghe An province continued to approve the adjustment in Resolution No. 65/NQ-HDND.
In addition, although in phase 1 of the project, basic items will be built to serve medical examination and treatment, the initial design does not have a collection area for solid waste and medical waste. Because of that, although it is almost basically completed, Hoang Mai Town Medical Center is still very difficult to put into operation.
Not to mention, in this phase, there was a wastewater treatment operator, but there was no power station to operate. These were the shortcomings in the initial design that caused the project to fall into a state of confusion and adjustment. Meanwhile, according to regulations, up to this point, phase 1 cannot be supplemented with design. Therefore, the necessary items for the operation of the Medical Center such as the waste treatment area and the power station serving the wastewater treatment area must be implemented in phase 2.
According to the plan, when phase 1 is completed, phase 2 of the project will begin. Therefore, from October 18, 2021, phase 2 has also been approved for investment by the Provincial People's Council in Resolution No. 48/NQ-HDND. The scale of phase 2 includes items such as: Pharmacy; Medical gas warehouse; Warehouse for supplies and equipment repair; Preventive medicine block (3 floors); Nutrition area, dining room; Funeral home; Parking garage...
In addition, there are a number of items such as Waste Treatment Area; 2,000 KVA Power Station; Lighting System; Garden... The total approved investment of phase 2 is 80 billion VND.
Mr. Vu Xuan Luong - Director of Hoang Mai Town Project Management Board said: Phase 1 of the project is in the process of completion. During the implementation process, the Town People's Committee realized that, in order for Hoang Mai Town Medical Center to operate effectively, meet the needs of medical examination, treatment, protection, and health care for the people and ensure compliance with current regulations, it is necessary to add more equipment for the Preventive Medicine Block (3 floors), wastewater treatment system equipment, medical gas supply system equipment, and medical waste incineration system equipment.
During the project implementation, the unit price and policy adjustments at different times increased the costs for the items compared to the approved ones. Therefore, the People's Committee of Hoang Mai town is submitting the adjustment proposal to the Nghe An Provincial People's Council for approval. It is expected that the total investment of phase 2 after adjustment will increase to 115 billion VND.
