A doctor examines a child at Trung Nguyên Commune Health Station in Tề Lỗ Commune, in the northern province of Phú Thọ. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thảo

Việt Nam is strengthening grassroots healthcare in line with the spirit of Politburo Resolution No. 72 on solutions to strengthen the system.

In recent times, commune-level health stations have been systematically upgraded to meet new demands, while major hospitals have been put into operation to enable people to access high-quality healthcare closer to home, reducing the need for patients to travel long distances.

Nguyễn Minh Tuấn, deputy director of Quảng Ninh City’s Department of Health, said the province had begun preparing early for changes to grassroots healthcare in order to respond promptly to the objectives set out in the resolution.

The city has transferred over 500 healthcare workers from former district-level medical centres to commune-level health stations. All commune-level health stations in the city now operate as public non-business healthcare units, with at least 18 healthcare workers each.

On average, each station has 27 healthcare workers, including at least 4 doctors. This means the province has all but met the human resource target set by Resolution 72 for 2030.

Alongside strengthening its workforce, the city has also been preparing the necessary infrastructure, equipment and other conditions. Following the transition to a two-tier local administration system, further investment in facilities and medical equipment, as well as training for healthcare workers, will take time.

Tuấn said these tasks had been incorporated into the plans of the city People's Committee, with specific policies in place for implementation in the coming period.

“I believe that with systematic investment by the city and clear guidance from central authorities and the Ministry of Health, the city’s health stations will be capable of managing and providing health check-ups for residents from 2027 onwards,” he said.

Specialised procedures

Meanwhile, branches of the Việt Nam–Germany Friendship Hospital and Bạch Mai Hospital in the northern province of Ninh Bình have recently begun operations, over a decade after construction began.

Bạch Mai Hospital’s Ninh Bình campus covers more than 120,000sq.m and has 1,000 beds, 37 departments and units, well over 11,000 specialised medical procedures and a workforce of 1,300 staff, civil servants and employees.

Designed as modern, specialised tertiary hospitals on a par with regional standards, the Ninh Bình campus of the Việt Nam–Germany Friendship Hospital has been built on a large scale, with 1,000 beds, a construction area of more than 30,500sq.m and a total floor area of nearly 120,000sq.m.

On the hospital’s first day of operation, a 56-year-old patient from the northern province of Thanh Hóa was brought in for emergency treatment with multiple traumatic injuries. The patient also suffered multiple soft-tissue wounds to the head, back and hand.

That night, the hospital activated its “red