‘Paying hospital fees for strangers’: Multiplying compassion

From the beginning of August, the hot trend “Paying hospital fees for strangers” has emerged and spread widely. In fact, many people have regularly paid hospital fees for those who are not relatives or family for many years.

However, since this hot trend, many hospitals in Dong Nai province have reported more support from benefactors, both direct and anonymous, compared to before.

Paying hospital fees for those not “blood relatives”

In early August 2025, Long Khanh Regional General Hospital received a special case: a 5-month-old infant, T.D., from Xuan Loc commune, Dong Nai province, was admitted with a persistent abscess on the back. The child's mother has a mental illness and frequently leaves home, leaving the baby in the care of the maternal grandmother and aunt. The grandmother is elderly, no longer able to work, and without any source of income, while the aunt works as a hired laborer. The family's situation is extremely difficult.

“We contacted the local authorities and confirmed that the grandmother raising baby D. was in very difficult circumstances. Therefore, we shared the child’s situation on social media to ask benefactors for support. Thanks to that, besides covering the hospital fees, when the baby was discharged, benefactors also sent milk, diapers, and 2.5 million VND to help improve the baby’s health,” said Tran Huu Phat, Deputy Head of the Department of Quality Management - Social Work, Long Khanh regional general hospital.

Representative of the Social Work Department, Long Khanh regional general hospital, on behalf of benefactors, hands support to the patient. Photo: Huu Phat

This occurrence is not an uncommon case at hospitals in Dong Nai province. For example, on August 4, Long Khanh Regional General Hospital admitted and treated patient Vu Thi Thanh, born in 1969, who was renting a room in Long Khanh ward, Dong Nai province.

Thanh is originally from the former Nam Dinh province (now Ninh Binh province) and currently lives alone, with no husband, children, or relatives. She sells lottery tickets daily to earn a living. On August 4, she suddenly experienced chest pain and was taken by neighbors from the boarding house to Long Khanh Regional General Hospital. There, doctors diagnosed her with pleural effusion and performed emergency surgery to insert a drainage tube.

With severe illness, no home, and no family support, the 14 million VND treatment cost was far beyond her means. Therefore, the hospital’s Social Work Department called for help from benefactors.

“I was rather surprised and touched when strangers came to visit, bringing money and gifts. In addition, the hospital informed me that many people transferred money to support me, paying my hospital fees even though they didn’t know who I was, and I didn’t know them. This endeavor is what warmed my heart the most during my years away from home,” Thanh said.

Quynh Nga (right) hands hospital fee support to Nguyen Huu Phuoc, 82 years old, suffering from respiratory failure and severe pneumonia. Photo: BVCC

Recently, Quynh Nga, a resident of Tam Hiep ward, Dong Nai province, representing the Quynh Nga Charity Group, visited patient Nguyen Huu Phuoc, 82 years old, at Dong Nai general hospital, who was suffering from respiratory failure and severe pneumonia, requiring intensive care treatment for many days. Although Nga and Phuoc are not relatives or acquaintances, Nga and her group members joined hands to help him through his illness.

On July 16, Nga made an initial hospital deposit of 5 million VND for Phuoc. On July 21, she returned to visit him and paid an additional 16 million VND to cover continued treatment.

“When I saw the elderly patient surrounded by tangled infusion tubes and machine wires, with no money for treatment, I felt deeply saddened. After the first visit, I discussed with other group members, and each of us contributed a little to support him,” Nga shared.

Not just a temporary trend

This occasion is not the first time Nga and her group have raised funds to support people experiencing poverty, especially elderly patients with serious illnesses. The Quynh Nga Charity Group often goes to hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai to help patients, with each person contributing depending on circumstances.

None of these patients has any blood ties with the group members, yet everyone is willing to reach out and feels joy in helping others. Around 100 members have sustained this activity for more than 10 years.

Students of class 11A3, Long Khanh High School, Dong Nai province, with their homeroom teachers, visit Long Khanh Regional General Hospital to give gifts to patients. Photo: Huu Phat

This beautiful act is not just a temporary trend. In recent times, many young people have gone directly to hospitals to visit and share with patients.

Recently, students of class 11A3, Long Khanh high school, Dong Nai province, together with their homeroom teachers, visited Long Khanh regional general hospital and gave gifts of cakes and milk to child patients and elderly patients. This occasion is the second year the school has maintained this activity to nurture students’ compassion and spread a positive image to society.

According to Tran Huu Phat, the hospital has received support from many benefactors across the country, primarily from Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai. Many of them quietly contributed by covering hospital deposits for patients and later providing the necessary information to the Social Work Department for recordkeeping.

For about 10 years, the hospital has been connecting with and calling for support from benefactors to assist poor patients. “We have regular benefactors who contribute a fixed amount each month, ranging from 500,000 to 1 million VND, either to cover hospital fees or to support the hospital’s charity porridge fund, which provides free meals for patients,” said Tran Huu Phat.

Le Dinh Hanh, Deputy Head in charge of the Social Work Department, Dong Nai General Hospital, expressed: “Paying hospital fees for strangers” is not only a temporary hot trend but a lasting and enduring act, showing the compassion and kindness of many benefactors in life.

At the hospital, for each case, the Social Work Department observes, verifies, and connects benefactors to directly visit and support patients, for the right person, for the right circumstance. All support is public, transparent, with photos and patient signatures.

In addition, “Paying hospital fees for strangers” is also embraced by medical staff themselves, who are frequent and dedicated benefactors. For example, Nguyen Cong Bang, once an ambulance driver at Long Khanh regional general hospital. Although retired, he still donates 50kg of rice every week to the hospital’s “Charity porridge pot” program to cook and serve patients in the hospital.

Le Dinh Hanh, Deputy Head in charge of the Social Work Department, Dong Nai general hospital, added: Thanks to the hot trend “Paying hospital fees for strangers”, since the beginning of August, the number of benefactors contacting to support poor patients has increased by 15-20% compared to previous months, with many young people among them.

Accordingly, upon receiving information about patients in need from hospital departments, the Social Work Department verifies the cases and shares them on social media, thereby connecting benefactors to support the patients directly. Many benefactors have come in person to pay deposits for patients. In addition, some regularly send money and gifts on a weekly or monthly basis to patients undergoing long-term treatment in departments such as oncology, dialysis, and others.

“On August 15, we received 9 gift donations from benefactors, equivalent to 9 million VND in cash for patients in serious condition. In addition, an anonymous benefactor from Bien Hoa ward agreed to donate 5 million VND monthly for patients,” Hanh said.

By Bich Nhan

Translated by Minh Hanh - Minho