According to the document, the incident is serious, with the potential risk of directly affecting the health of patients and causing loss of public trust in the health sector. However, at the time of discovery, the Ministry of Health had not received a report from the locality.
The Ministry of Health requested the Dak Lak Provincial People's Committee to direct the Department of Health to organize an inspection and verification of the entire professional process, management and use of medical equipment at the Central Highlands General Hospital. The review content includes the purchase and maintenance of equipment, medical examination and treatment conditions, drug supply and health insurance payment. The unit must review and clarify the responsibility of collectives and individuals if there are violations and fully coordinate with competent authorities during the investigation.
The provincial Social Insurance is also required to review the signing of contracts, appraisal, and payment of health insurance medical examination and treatment costs from 2023 to present to the hospital; consider recovering expenses that are not in accordance with regulations if any.
In addition, the Provincial People's Committee needs to direct a comprehensive inspection of other medical examination and treatment facilities in the area regarding the purchase, management and use of equipment and medicines; promptly rectify risks affecting the safety of patients. Violations, if discovered, must be strictly handled according to the law.
The Ministry of Health requests to publicize the results of inspections and handling on mass media and send a quick report to the Ministry (Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management, Department of Health Insurance, Department of Infrastructure and Medical Equipment) before 1:00 p.m. on September 19, 2025.
The Central Highlands General Hospital has only had one stone cancer laser machine, damaged since 11.2023, but still has nearly 500 cases of stone cancer.
Director of Dak Lak Nay Department of Health Phi La commented that this was a very serious incident. Previously, in early August 2025, the hospital temporarily suspended Department Head Nguyen Ngoc Hoang and Deputy Head of Department Le Xuan Vinh for signs of violations in the management and use of the device. Currently, both have expired their suspension period and are returning to work.
On September 18, the Dak Lak Department of Health held a press conference about nearly 500 cases of kidney stones when the device failed at the Central Highlands General Hospital.
Deputy Director of the Central Highlands General Hospital Le Ka Thuy admitted that the violation was spontaneous by individuals, had disciplined and coordinated with the Social Insurance to recover costs, and affirmed that it was not covered.
The hospital said it had sent the machine for repair and borrowed another machine, without charging additional costs to the patient.
Director of the Department of Health Nay Phi La said that the inspection team discovered that the file was not in accordance with regulations, the fault belonged to individuals, not the system, and coordinated with the police to investigate, and at the same time accepted the shortcomings of being slow to report to the Provincial People's Committee.
