Hospital with 700 beds leaks
Lao Dong Newspaper has just received feedback from some patients being treated at Nam Dinh General Hospital (also known as the 700-bed Hospital), Thien Truong ward, Ninh Binh province, about the condition of the patient room leaking, posing a potential safety risk, affecting the treatment process and patient life.
Immediately after receiving the information, on September 16, Lao Dong Newspaper reporters directly recorded at some departments and rooms of Nam Dinh General Hospital. In the emergency room 3 of the Department of Gastroenterology, 5th floor, right in front of the room door, 3 plastic buckets had to be placed to collect water.
As for the 22nd patient room of the 4th floor Oncology Center (building E), in addition to using plastic basins to collect water flowing due to the aging glass joint glue, patients' families also take turns using wipers to clean the water under the floor to reduce slipperiness.
In a similar situation, along the 2nd floor corridor of the Department of Infectious Diseases are yellow warning signs with the words "note wet floor". Plastic basins and buckets are placed close together.
While taking the opportunity to wipe and clean the buckets of water in the 2nd floor lobby of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Ms. N.T. T. T - a hospital sanitation worker said: "This situation has been going on for several months now. To ensure safety for everyone, we regularly clean the floor and pour water into buckets and basins.
According to PV's records, in addition to the leakage situation, the air conditioner at emergency room 2 of the Oncology Center on the 2nd floor has been broken for many days and has not been repaired.
The air conditioner in the room has been broken for about 4 days now. We have reported to hospital staff but have not seen anyone come to check and repair it. The room is quite stuffy and hot, so we have to bring an electric fan ourselves to use. The weather has been rainy these days, the weather is milder, so it's still better, but on hot sunny days, patients will be very uncomfortable," said a patient's family member.
Inspect and overcome water seepage and leaks
It is known that the 700-bed hospital was renovated on the old construction site after many years of abandonment, invested by the Ninh Binh Provincial Construction Investment Project Management Board No. 2 (Board 2).
The project started in 2006, basically completing the structural part of the main works but had to be temporarily suspended from 2012 due to many reasons. After nearly a decade of stagnation, the project was restarted in 2021, completed and put into use from July 2025.
Regarding the above issue, in an exchange with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of Department 2 said that Department 2 has received information and has conducted inspections and has directions for remediation and handling. The initial cause for the seepage and leakage locations is determined to be due to the air conditioning system. Some other locations are due to culverts being blocked causing water to overflow; or the outer glue layer of some glass walls is aging, causing rainwater to see inside.
Board 2 has coordinated with the hospital to review and statistically analyze the situation of seepage and leaks in about 20 locations that need to be handled.
The 700-bed hospital was handed over and put into use from the end of June 2025 and has a warranty period of 24 months. After handover, the operation, maintenance, and repair of equipment during use are the responsibility of the hospital. For construction items under warranty, if problems arise that need to be overcome or handled, Board 2 will request the contractor to inspect, determine the cause and implement remediation according to warranty responsibility.
The hospital uses a general air conditioning system. According to the manufacturer's recommendations, the system needs to be cleaned and maintained periodically every 3-4 months. In addition, this is an renovation project, the rough part was built nearly 20 years ago, so some old items have experienced seepage and seepage. We are coordinating with the hospital and the contractor to fix it, and it is expected to be completely resolved in October," said a representative of Department 2.
On the hospital's side, Mr. Tran Van Tuyen - Head of Administration and Management Department, Nam Dinh General Hospital - said: "For locations with seepage and leaks, the hospital has placed warning signs. Regarding the maintenance of the air conditioning system, the hospital is still developing a plan.
