HCMC hospitals face more competition as funding falls

 02-Mar-16, Viet Nam News

Public health facilities in Ho Chi Minh City will be under pressure to improve their quality of services as they will no longer receive city funds for regular expenditures, excluding costs such as infrastructure projects.

Image: Duong Ngoc

Hospital fees yesterday officially rose by 30-50 per cent nationwide at all public hospitals, as scheduled by the Ministry of Health.

The city's hospitals will have to rely mostly on revenue from patients instead of the city's budget.

Tang Chi Thuong, deputy head of the city's Department of Health, said: "If quality and service attitudes stay the same, they won't be able to attract patients. This means they won't have revenue for their operations."

Nguyen Van Chau, Director of Xuyen A General Hospital in Cu Chi District, said: "For hospitals with low quality, this is a lot of pressure. They are forced to change because their existence depends on attracting patients."

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 Elsevier APAC Healthcare Update