Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan issued document No. 148 in response to the petition of voters of Nam Dinh province sent before the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly related to the health sector.
Accordingly, voters continue to request the Government to resolutely direct relevant ministries and branches to find solutions to soon put the second facility project of Viet Duc Hospital and Bach Mai Hospital in Ha Nam into operation to reduce the number of patients at the central level and facilitate medical examination and treatment for people in neighboring provinces.
Regarding this issue, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the investment project to build Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital, branch 2, was implemented according to Decision No. 125/QD-TTg dated January 16, 2014 of the Prime Minister.
The goal is to build these two hospitals into central-level hospitals that meet standards, are modern, synchronous, have advanced management and operation mechanisms, and have medical examination and treatment levels on par with those of advanced countries in the region...
The projects started construction in 2015, with the scheduled completion date being 2020; the deadline has been extended to 2024. To date, contractors have completed over 90% of the infrastructure and architectural construction.
The project is divided into EPC packages (design, construction, supply, installation of equipment; applying the type of contract with adjusted prices. However, during the implementation process, the project encountered difficulties in adjusting the contract price, leading to the contractor stopping construction from December 2020 to present.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the projects are behind schedule due to the following reasons.
Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital 2 are major projects of the health sector, applying the EPC form for the first time, so the Ministry of Health, investors and contractors have not fully anticipated the difficulties and problems when implementing the project in this form.
Besides, the capacity of the investor is still limited; they do not understand the importance of Contract law and do not have experience in managing EPC contracts.
From 2019 to 2022, the COVID-19 pandemic has been complicated, many localities including Hanoi and Ha Nam province have had to implement social distancing, affecting investment activities.
During this time, the Ministry of Health must focus all its resources on epidemic prevention and control, so it cannot focus on resolving difficulties and problems arising from projects.
Another reason is the difficulties in adjusting the contract price, which leads to the investor being unable to pay the completed volume to the contractor because during the construction process, the design had to be adjusted to add some departments, change some functions and structures according to the request of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Friendship Hospital to suit professional requirements.
Minister Dao Hong Lan said that since 2018, the Government, the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries have actively sought measures to remove difficulties and obstacles for projects.
In 2023, the Prime Minister decided to establish an interdisciplinary working group headed by the Minister of Health; leaders of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Finance are members.
The Ministry of Health and the Working Group have made efforts to review, research, and propose solutions to completely resolve the difficulties and problems of these projects and have completed the solutions to submit to the Government for consideration and decision.
The contractor has started construction again since the beginning of November 2024. After the competent authority approves the treatment plan, the Ministry of Health will resolutely direct the investor and contractors to urgently focus maximum resources to implement the construction, ensuring the completion of the projects in 2025.
The Government Inspectorate has just announced its decision to inspect the Bach Mai Hospital project and Viet Duc Hospital 2 (in Ha Nam). These are two typical projects of waste that General Secretary To Lam mentioned and requested to be inspected.
According to the decision, the inspection period of these two Hospital projects is from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2024, and may be considered before or after the above period if necessary.
The inspection period is expected to be 40 working days (excluding Sundays and holidays), starting from the date of announcement of the decision. The inspection team consists of 11 members, led by Mr. Ngo Dinh Long - Deputy Director of Department III of the Government Inspectorate.
