Establishing new Department of Health in provinces and cities that must be arranged and merged

According to the instructions, for provinces and cities after the arrangement and merger, a new Department of Health will be established under the People's Committee of the province or city. The new Department of Health will be formed on the basis of merging the existing Departments of Health of the localities before the arrangement. This Department is a specialized agency under the People's Committee of the province or city, performing the functions, tasks and powers as prescribed in Circular No. 37/2021/TT-BYT dated December 31, 2021 of the Ministry of Health, and at the same time inheriting a number of tasks on social protection, prevention and control of social evils and children previously undertaken by the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs.

The Ministry of Health requires no interruption of medical services at medical facilities that must be merged or reorganized.

The Ministry of Health also provides guidance on the arrangement of public service units under the Department of Health. Specifically, based on the review and assessment of operational efficiency, functions, tasks and powers, the Director of the Department of Health after the arrangement will advise the Provincial and Municipal People's Committees to decide to maintain, dissolve or reorganize service units in the direction of merging, separating or adjusting the names, functions and tasks. The general principle is to ensure the maintenance and non-interruption of the provision of basic and essential health services in the locality.

Medical examination and treatment facilities (general, specialized, regional), social protection facilities, and basic social assistance will be maintained to continue to meet the health care and social support needs of the people, especially vulnerable groups.

For other public service units such as the Center for Disease Control, the Center for Medical Examination, the Center for Forensic Medicine, the Center for Drug - Cosmetic - Food Testing, etc., the Director of the Department of Health will develop a project to submit to the Provincial or Municipal People's Committee for consideration of merging units with the same functions and tasks to establish a new public service unit. The new units may have many operating facilities depending on population size, geography and scope of expertise, but must clearly define tasks and coordination mechanisms to avoid duplication and overlap.

Particularly for the district-level health system, the Ministry of Health is orienting the arrangement of existing district, county, and town health centers into regional health centers, under the provincial and municipal health departments after the arrangement to ensure connectivity, improve management capacity, and provide basic health services to the people.

KHANH NGUYEN

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/thanh-lap-so-y-te-moi-tai-cac-tinh-thanh-pho-phai-sap-xep-sap-nhap-post790704.html