Before 2017, Quang Ngai healthcare was in a difficult situation due to both a shortage of good doctors and poor facilities. People do not have many treatment options, so they have to wrap towels to Da Nang, Hue or Ho Chi Minh City when suffering from serious illnesses.
In that context, the High-Quality Service Area project - Quang Ngai General Hospital started construction in June 2017 in Nghia Lo ward, with a total investment of 1,100 billion VND. When completed, it will help people access high-quality medical examination and treatment services right in the center of the province. Nearly a decade has passed, and that great expectation is now just a prolonged disappointment.
The project is built on an area of 11,006m2, planned to invest in the complete construction of a 500-bed inpatient hospital, expected to be put into use in 2018. The investor is Quang Ngai International General Hospital Company Limited, a joint venture between Medika Investment Vietnam Joint Stock Company and Quang Ngai General Hospital.
However, after completing the foundation, the project suddenly stopped. The reason is that the two joint ventures have disagreed on the loan plan. And since then, the project has fallen into a state of " Couple", never waking up.
To remove the deadlock, Quang Ngai province has adjusted the investment policy 3 times, extending the completion date to June 2021. But after all, the construction site is still inactive.
In fact, for many years, the public and private hospital systems in Quang Ngai have not yet met the increasing demand for medical examination and treatment of the people. Therefore, when the high-quality hospital project with a total investment of thousands of billions of VND was started, people in the province had high expectations.
"If there was a high-quality hospital, it would definitely save more people. People in the province will have less money to run around and get treatment like now" - Mr. T.H.T., who lives near the project area expressed.
In 2023, the Quang Ngai Provincial Inspectorate concluded that a series of violations at the project were pointed out. In the same year, the Provincial People's Committee issued a decision to reclaim the project's land to re-organize the auction. However, the problems piled up, causing a key medical project to still struggle to find a solution.
Records at the scene showed that the project had seriously degraded. Rusty iron piles, hot concrete, and weeds growing above the head. In the navel area, stagnant water for many years forms large ponds, becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes and many types of insects.
In a prime location in the center of Quang Ngai province, that scene is completely opposite to the scale of the project that was once expected to change the appearance of the province's health sector.
Mr. Le Toan, who lives next to the abandoned land, confided: "Not only me but the whole residential area hopes that the project can be resumed soon. This is a hospital that everyone is looking forward to, but if it is abandoned for many years, it is really a waste.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper about whether the hospital has any proposals or recommendations to the authorities to handle problems related to the project, Mr. Le Van Thieu - Director of Quang Ngai General Hospital - said: "This must be asked by the project committee, I do not know. This land is not mine. This land belongs to the project board". However, when the reporter asked which unit this project board is, Mr. Le Van Thieu said: "I don't know, the hospital has nothing left, nothing to do with this project? ".
