Dong Nai City has emerged as a leading locality in ensuring social security, with a particular focus on building a modern and sustainable healthcare system. This achievement is the result of a long and determined journey, beginning with innovative thinking, practical resolutions, and action plans, and driven by the concerted and decisive efforts of the entire political system and the healthcare sector.

Part 1: Remarkable advances in healthcare “strongholds”

Dong Nai currently has two hospitals classified as advanced-level ones, where doctors have mastered many advanced techniques previously performed only at central-level hospitals: Dong Nai General Hospital and Thong Nhat General Hospital. This progress has not only strengthened local treatment capacity but also created an important foundation for Dong Nai’s healthcare system to gradually move closer to the standards of high-quality medical centers across the country.

A surgical procedure at Thong Nhat General Hospital. Photo: Hanh Dung

A healthcare highlight in the Southeast region

In recent years, Dong Nai General Hospital has been widely regarded as a “bright spot” in the southern healthcare system, achieving a range of notable accomplishments. According to Specialist Level II Doctor Ngo Duc Tuan, Director of the hospital, it currently has more than 1,700 employees, including one PhD holder, Dr. Vo Tuan Anh, Head of the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Department. The hospital’s workforce, comprising Specialist Level II and I doctors, general practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists, is highly experienced and dedicated. Beyond performing open-heart and endoscopic cardiac surgery, the hospital has successfully mastered complex procedures such as neurosurgery, spinal surgery, and a wide array of specialized interventions. Notably, the hospital has been awarded the World Stroke Organization’s Diamond status for stroke treatment on three occasions. This accomplishment is a highly remarkable and proud achievement for Dong Nai’s healthcare sector, as only a handful of medical institutions nationwide have achieved this status.

Remarkably, Dong Nai General Hospital has been officially authorized by the Ministry of Health to carry out kidney retrieval and transplantation from both living and brain-dead donors. This milestone offers new hope to thousands of end-stage renal patients in the locality and surrounding areas, enabling them to return to healthier, more normal lives. The city’s first kidney transplant is expected to be performed in the coming days.

To effectively manage the daily reception and treatment of more than 4,000 patients, the hospital has actively integrated information technology at every stage, from patient intake to billing and medication dispensing, thereby eliminating the long waiting times that were once common. 

Building on the results already achieved, the hospital is working to meet the necessary conditions to establish specialized centers for ear, nose, and throat care, oncology, cardiology, and emergency care. Through this effort, it aims to become a special-grade hospital and affirm its role as a specialized medical center for the locality and the region.

According to Specialist Level II Doctor Nguyen Tuong Quang, Director of Thong Nhat General Hospital, the facility currently operates at a capacity of 1,050 beds with more than 1,300 staff members. With a strong spirit of unity and determination, the hospital has successfully implemented numerous advanced techniques, including cardiac surgery, cardiovascular intervention, arrhythmia treatment, continuous renal replacement therapy, plasma exchange, stroke intervention, and modern trauma care.

Notably, Thong Nhat General Hospital is the first public healthcare facility in Dong Nai to achieve ISO 15189:2022, the international standard for medical laboratories. The application of artificial intelligence in X-ray interpretation and cervical cancer screening is also opening up new development directions. Alongside other healthcare facilities, the hospital is promoting electronic medical records, strengthening scientific research, and supporting lower-level healthcare units in improving their professional capacity, thereby enhancing the overall strength of the city’s healthcare system.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lam Viet Trung, Deputy Director of Cho Ray Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City), noted that both Dong Nai General Hospital and Thong Nhat General Hospital are provincial-level hospitals with high professional quality in the southern region. Over the years, Cho Ray Hospital has transferred numerous advanced techniques to these facilities, all of which have been effectively implemented. In the coming period, further support will continue to enhance the professional expertise of Dong Nai’s medical workforce, enabling residents to access high-quality healthcare services locally without needing to travel to Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Le Truong Son, Member of the Dong Nai City Party Standing Committee and Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committee, thanks to a high-quality workforce, modern equipment, and facilities, hospitals across Dong Nai have saved the lives of many patients in critical condition, thereby reinforcing public trust. Among them, Dong Nai General Hospital, Thong Nhat General Hospital, and Dong Nai Children’s Hospital serve as the locality’s core medical institutions.

Many specialized hospitals affirm their position

Beyond the specialized general hospitals, a range of specialized hospitals across Dong Nai City have also been steadily affirming their standing at the regional level.

M.Sc., Specialist Level II Doctor Nguyen Trong Nghia, Deputy Director of Dong Nai Children’s Hospital, noted that one of the hospital’s most prominent strengths lies in its capacity to receive and effectively handle severe and complex cases, including accidents, poisoning, hemorrhage, and life-threatening emergencies. Many cases that previously required referral to higher-level hospitals are now successfully treated on-site, easing the burden on upper-tier facilities and improving survival rates for pediatric patients.

Neonatal resuscitation has been identified as a key development focus. The hospital has established a large-scale Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which receives and treats between 70 and 80 newborns each day, including numerous critical cases. Mastery of advanced techniques has enabled timely intervention immediately after birth. Notably, extremely premature infants weighing as little as 600 grams have been meticulously cared for and successfully saved by the hospital’s medical team.

“There have been cases of children suffering cardiac and respiratory arrest due to lightning strikes, electric shocks, or severe traffic accidents who were remarkably saved by our doctors,” Dr. Nguyen Trong Nghia said.

Dr. Nguyen Trong Nghia further emphasized that the hospital is pursuing two main development pillars: enhancing the quality of specialized treatment through continued mastery and expansion of advanced techniques, and strengthening primary healthcare in the community to enable early detection and timely intervention. The ultimate goal is to develop the hospital into a high-quality pediatric center for the region.

Specialized hospitals such as Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital, Dong Nai Lung Hospital, Dong Nai Traditional Medicine Hospital, and Binh Phuoc Traditional Medicine Hospital are also actively deploying advanced techniques and applying modern technologies to improve early diagnosis and treatment of specialized conditions.

Specialist Level II Doctor Nguyen Van Thao, Director of Dong Nai Lung Hospital, stated that with the goal of rapidly and accurately detecting tuberculosis cases and aiming to push back the disease, the hospital has implemented modern diagnostic methods such as mobile digital X-ray imaging, sputum culture in MGIT liquid medium, and GeneXpert molecular testing.

According to Specialist Level II Doctor Dao Tan Hiep, Deputy Director in charge of Dong Nai Dermatology Hospital, the facility has introduced numerous advanced techniques for treating complex dermatological conditions, including whole-body UVB therapy (for chronic diseases such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis), cold plasma therapy (to support skin healing), and 64-allergen testing to identify causes of allergies and support personalized treatment approaches, among others.

To comprehensively and sustainably improve healthcare quality for residents, developing specialized and specialty hospitals is only one pillar. Alongside this, Dong Nai identifies grassroots healthcare as the “gatekeeper” of the system, directly serving residents and providing them with primary healthcare. Therefore, in addition to investing in higher-level facilities, the city places particular emphasis on consolidating and improving grassroots healthcare, creating connectivity and coordination across the entire system, thereby ensuring that all residents have access to quality medical services as close to them as possible.

By Hanh Dung – Translated by Minh Hong, Minho