Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health mobilizes hospitals to support MRI scans instead of the Oncology Hospital

According to the report of the Oncology Hospital, the hospital currently has 2 MRI machines for patients, one of which is located at facility 1 (Binh Thanh district) and has been in use for more than 10 years. Recently, this machine has been frequently damaged and has stopped working.

However, due to the high cost of repair, the hospital's Board of Directors has planned to purchase a new machine and is expected to deploy it in 2024 to serve patients using the City's stimulus loan mechanism. In the past, the Oncology Hospital has sent patients to facility 2 for MRI when indicated.

But recently, the MRI machine at facility 2 suddenly broke down after more than 3 years of use. The Oncology Hospital immediately contacted the manufacturer of this machine and received a response that the hospital would repair it for free soon.

Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health mobilizes hospitals to support MRI scans instead of cancer hospital 1 — MRI is very important in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients.

Dr. Pham Xuan Dung, Director of the Oncology Hospital, said that the MRI machine manufacturer ordered the equipment from Singapore, then shipped it to Vietnam for repair and replacement. It is expected that after about a week, the MRI machine will be able to operate normally again.

In response to this incident, the Board of Directors of the Department of Health requested that hospitals with MRI machines that are not being used at full capacity support the Oncology Hospital and not let cancer patients suffer while waiting for the Oncology Hospital to repair and replace the machine with a new one.

Immediately after receiving this request, two hospitals volunteered to support, namely Hong Duc Hospital, Branch 2 and Thu Duc Regional General Hospital.

Specifically, Hong Duc Hospital, Facility 2, will support free transportation of patients from Facility 1 of the Oncology Hospital to this hospital for MRI scans at the same price as the health insurance payment regulations, patients do not have to pay any additional costs. After the scan is completed, Hong Duc Hospital will have a car to take the patient back. This activity will be implemented 24/7 whenever the patient needs an MRI scan.

Similarly, Oncology Hospital 2 will have a vehicle to take patients with MRI scans to Thu Duc Regional General Hospital for the procedure. After the scan is completed, Thu Duc Regional General Hospital will have a vehicle to take the patient back. Patients with health insurance do not have to pay any additional fees to these two hospitals, the transportation of patients is completely free of charge by the two hospitals.

Agreeing with the above solution, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health requested hospitals to develop strict procedures for transferring patients for MRI scans, and sign clear responsibility contracts to ensure the legitimate rights and safety of patients. At the same time, the Oncology Hospital was requested to widely notify the hospital's patients of the hotline number so that patients could call at any time when encountering difficulties while going for MRI scans at other hospitals.

In addition, the Department of Health requires hospitals to proactively have plans to maintain and repair medical equipment to ensure that medical examination and treatment activities are not interrupted. It is necessary to develop possible situations for important medical equipment, and corresponding handling scenarios in the spirit of maximizing the mobilization of available resources at medical facilities in the area.

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