The figures were released at an online conference on the project held yesterday by the ministry. During the conference seven leading hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City reported their plans for setting up their satellite units. The total cost of these satellite hospitals will be VND2.6 trillion (US$124.8 million), of which VND2 trillion will be for construction and equipment, and the rest for health worker training.

The criteria for areas to be chosen as a place where satellite hospitals will be built are geographical location, a dense population, local hospitals suffering patient overloading, and local authorities must be determined to implement and fulfill the project.

The People’s Committees of provinces or cities where satellite hospitals are built must pledge with the Health Ministry that they will do their best to ensure the success of such facilities.

A satellite hospital will experience two periods, the first being construction, organization, training and technology transfer; and the second maintaining and developing operations.

Accordingly, Cho Ray hospital will build six affiliates at the general hospitals of six southern provinces, including Dong Nai, Tien Giang, Binh Duong, Soc Trang, Long An and Khanh Hoa in five years, starting this year, with a total investment of VND120 billion.

Tu Du Obstretrics Hospital will spend about VND210 billion on building eight units in such provinces as Tien Giang, Can Tho, Ba Rai-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh, Lam Dong, Kon Tum, Binh Dinh, and Ninh Thuan.

Gia Dinh People’s Hospital will have two satellite hospitals at the Lam Dong Province General Hospital and the Vietnam Russia Jointventure Health Center. The total cost is expected to be VND28.3 billion.

The Trauma and Orthopedics Hospital is planning to build its units in five provinces, Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Kien Giang, Can Tho, and Dong Nai. The total cost is being calculated.

The Oncology Hospital will spend eight years building five satellite hospitals in Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai and Can Tho with a total investment of about VND300 billion.

Pediatrics Hospitals 1 will spend VND41 billion on setting up its units in Long An, Tien Giang, Can Tho and Ca Mau over four years, while Pediatrics Hospital 2 will build its satellites in Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Da Nang and some provinces in the Central Highlands region from now until 2020 with a total cost of VND500 billion.

At the conference, the ministry advised that leading southern hospitals should not open too many satellite units, but should only set up facilities in the areas of oncology, heart, trauma, obstetrics and pediatrics, the sectors that have experienced serious patient overloading at large hospitals .

Meanwhile, the seven large hospitals discussed above asked the ministry to adopt policies and mechanisms that can facilitate the operation of their satellite units in the future.

The satellite hospital model, which has been approved by the Health Ministry, is being developed for Southern Vietnam after two large hospitals in Hanoi – Bach Mai and Viet Duc – successfully implemented the model, improving treatment quality and reducing patient overloading.

Bach Mai now has eight satellite hospitals in several northern provinces while Viet Duc has six units.