From early morning, Ms. Phung Kim Suong (71 years old, residing in Trung My Tay ward, Ho Chi Minh City) was present at Trung My Tay Ward Health Station for regular medical examinations. Previously, every time she had a re-examination, she had to ask her children and grandchildren to take her to Military Hospital 175, about 15km from home.
When I was introduced to be examined at the ward health station, I learned that we can also monitor the disease and provide medicine here," Ms. Kim Suong shared.
Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau - Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health - said that grassroots healthcare plays a key role, especially in ward and commune health stations, in the multi-layer - multi-polar - multi-center healthcare system model that the health sector is aiming for to implement. Disease prevention and early detection need to be placed on par with treatment. Initial health care is the overarching foundation, covering from prevention, early screening, management of chronic diseases to functional rehabilitation. However, currently the role of grassroots healthcare has not been properly promoted. Data in 2025 shows that only about 8% of examinations take place at the initial level, and the majority of people go directly to specialized hospitals. Medical personnel at the grassroots level also account for only about 17% of the total industry workforce, creating a vicious cycle between shortage of human resources and shortage of patients.
To remove this bottleneck, the Ho Chi Minh City health sector is synchronously implementing many solutions: Developing health stations according to the principle of family medicine; strengthening remote consultation; training non-communicable disease management for lower-level doctors; ensuring the supply of drugs equivalent to upper-level levels and having policies to attract doctors to work at the grassroots level. In particular, Resolution 72 of the Politburo has clearly defined the direction of strongly shifting from "treating diseases" to "proactive disease prevention", taking grassroots healthcare as the foundation.
The goal is for health stations to truly become gatekeepers of the health system, taking care of people's health from early, remote and throughout life" - Dr. Nguyen Van Vinh Chau emphasized.
To reduce pressure, Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital and Vung Tau General Hospital have agreed to develop oncology specialties in Ba Ria, survey and build a new center, helping people access quality medical services in the locality. Similarly, expanding medical examination and treatment in remote island areas such as Con Dao Special Zone and opening Tu Du Hospital (facility 2 in Can Gio) is also a direction to bring high-quality medical services closer to the people. When put into operation, these medical facilities have attracted thousands of people in nearby areas to come for examination, treatment and timely emergency care for many people on the spot, instead of being transferred to higher levels.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dr. Tang Chi Thuong - Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, in 2026, the city will review and re-plan the gateway hospital system suitable for the new urban space.
