The Ministry of Health said that by October 2017, the Ministry had 83 affiliated public service units, including 3 units serving the function of state management according to Decree 75/2017/ND-CP.
From 2017 to 2025, the Ministry has been restructuring the system, including transferring 3 affiliated hospitals to localities, merging and reorganizing 4 focal points. Some notable changes are the merger of two magazines into the Journal of Medicine and Pharmacy, the merger of the Medical Equipment Technical College into Viet Duc Friendship Hospital to form Viet Duc Medical and Equipment College, and the transfer of Central Hospital 71 and the Central Nursing - Rehabilitation Hospital to Hanoi Medical University.
Currently, the Ministry of Health directly manages 90 units, including 35 hospitals, 11 preventive units, 12 training facilities, 5 inspection - testing units, 3 pharmaceutical and vaccine units, and 8 forensic and forensic psychiatric units.
According to the new plan, the Ministry proposes to transfer 13 units to localities and reorganize 11 units. Some leading hospitals such as Bach Mai, Viet Duc, K, Pediatric Central, Central Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cho Ray, Thong Nhat... continue to be under the Ministry to ensure the leading role in treatment, research and training.
Some specialized hospitals will be merged into central general hospitals or large facilities, such as the Can Tho Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Hospital merged into Can Tho General Hospital; Ho Chi Minh City Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Hospital merged into Thong Nhat Hospital.
In addition, some hospitals will be handed over to localities to increase proactiveness in management such as: Central Mental Hospital II (Dong Nai), Central Hospital 74 (Phu Tho), Quy Hoa Central Phong - Dermatology Hospital (Gia Lai), Quang Nam Central General Hospital (Da Nang City).
Notably, the Ministry of Health proposed to convert some hospitals into practice hospitals for medical universities, such as the Da Nang Orthopedic - Rehabilitation Hospital to the Da Nang University of Medicine and Pharmacy Technology, or the National Hospital 71 and the National Nursing - Rehabilitation Hospital to Hanoi Medical University.
In the disease prevention sector, the Ministry proposes to build a strong national preventive health network, in which the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology will become the Central CDC network. This Institute will merge the Institute of Nutrition, the Central Institute of Malaria - Parasitology - insects and the Institute of Occupational Health - Environment. In the South, the Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Malaria - Parasitology - entomology and Public Health of Ho Chi Minh City will merge into the Pasteur Institute of Ho Chi Minh City.
For the training sector, the Ministry of Health proposes to streamline the network and increase connectivity: Hai Phong University of Medicine and Pharmacy will receive Hai Duong Medical Technical University, while Hai Duong Central Pharmacy College will merge into Hanoi University of Pharmacy. Key schools such as Hanoi Medical University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Nam Dinh Nursing University... continue to be under the Ministry.
The plans are built according to a suitable roadmap, ensuring inheritance, avoiding disruption, and aiming to improve operational efficiency and better serve the people.
