Con Dao, Vietnam Strengthens Healthcare With Specialist Support Bridging Mainland Gap And Offer Safer Stays For Tourists

Published on September 24, 2025

A moving sojourn was precocious conducted by Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan to nan Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center, aimed astatine evaluating nan effect of a specialist expert rotation program launched earlier this month. Accompanied by Nguyen Phuoc Loc, Vice Secretary of nan Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and Chairman of nan Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of nan city, nan sojourn underscored nan high-level collaboration betwixt cardinal wellness authorities and nan municipal authorities successful addressing aesculapian needs successful distant areas for illustration Con Dao.

This sojourn marked a captious milestone successful strengthening healthcare infrastructure and transportation successful 1 of Vietnam’s astir geographically isolated land districts.

A Medical Center With a Dual Mission

Established successful 2005, nan Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center was designed to meet nan unsocial healthcare demands of some section residents and subject unit stationed connected nan island. Over nan years, it has grown into a cardinal supplier of nationalist wellness services successful nan region.

In August 2025, nan halfway underwent a important upgrade pinch nan inauguration of Phase 1 of a caller improvement project. This description accrued nan center’s capacity to 60 inpatient beds, supported by a authorities finance of VND 250 cardinal (US$9.5 million). Between January and September 2025, nan installation recorded complete 16,600 diligent visits—a fig that reflects some nan increasing section request and nan center’s expanding capabilities.

Rotational Specialist Doctor Program: A Timely Intervention

To span nan work spread betwixt land and mainland aesculapian care, a rotational master expert deployment programme was launched by nan Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health connected 3 September 2025. Under this model, knowledgeable doctors from awesome hospitals successful Ho Chi Minh City are dispatched to Con Dao for short-term assignments, bringing master expertise straight to nan island’s patients.

Since its implementation, nan programme has led to measurable improvements successful healthcare delivery. Outpatient consultations accrued by 67 percent, inpatient admissions roseate by 75 percent, and bed occupancy grew by 72 percent compared to nan erstwhile month. Additionally, nan halfway successfully performed eight surgeries, including procedures that had antecedently been unfeasible connected nan island. These outcomes person importantly reduced nan wave and costs of aesculapian evacuations to mainland hospitals.

Government Recognition and Long-Term Support

During nan inspection, Minister Dao Hong Lan commended nan dedication and professionalism of nan leadership, doctors, nurses, and support unit astatine nan Con Dao center. The rotational exemplary was acknowledged arsenic a context-sensitive solution, straight responding to nan unsocial logistical challenges faced by land wellness services.

The Minister emphasized that this attack not only boosts contiguous entree to healthcare but besides plays a strategical domiciled successful narrowing nan work value gap betwixt municipality centers and distant communities. She encouraged continued coordination betwixt nan Ministry of Health and nan Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health to guarantee semipermanent sustainability.

Key recommendations included:

• Enhanced exertion transfer
• On-site training for section wellness workers
• Monitoring mechanisms for identifying and resolving emerging challenges
• Escalation of unresolved issues to higher authorities erstwhile needed

The Ministry of Health reaffirmed its committedness to activity pinch section and city-level agencies to flooded immoderate operational difficulties, peculiarly those affecting nan transportation of aesculapian attraction to subject unit and civilians successful distant areas.

Advancing Dental and Elderly Care

In parallel pinch nan inspection, nan delegation besides presided complete nan signing of 2 important healthcare agreements:

1. The School-Based Dental Program
2. The 2025–2028 Oral Health Care Program for nan Elderly

These initiatives are being implemented successful business betwixt nan National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology (Ho Chi Minh City) and nan Con Dao Military-Civilian Medical Center.

To support these programs, a mobile dental instrumentality set weighted astatine VND 600 cardinal (US$22,717) was presented to nan Con Dao center. This will alteration greater outreach and preventive attraction services, peculiarly for children and aged patients who whitethorn look mobility aliases proscription challenges.

In a further show of support for nan community, nan Vietnam Young Physicians Association awarded 10 scholarships, each worthy VND 2 million, to high-achieving students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds successful Con Dao.

Meeting nan Unique Needs of Island Communities

Located acold from nan mainland, Con Dao faces important obstacles successful delivering accordant and broad healthcare. Emergencies, childbirth complications, and chronic unwellness guidance person often necessitated long, risky, and costly transfers to hospitals successful awesome cities. These journeys not only hold curen but besides enforce a financial and affectional load connected patients and families.

By bringing specialists straight to nan island, nan rotational programme addresses some work accessibility and healthcare quality. Patients now person entree to specialized diagnostics, curen planning, and surgical attraction without needing to time off nan island.

Institutional Synergy and Local Capacity Building

The effectiveness of nan rotation exemplary lies not only successful nan beingness of visiting doctors but besides successful nan opportunities it creates for local capacity building. Through on-the-job mentorship, clinical accomplishment transfer, and exposure to precocious aesculapian equipment, section unit are being gradually upskilled, laying nan instauration for much independent and broad attraction transportation successful nan future.

Ensuring Sustainability: Strategic Priorities

For this promising exemplary to proceed thriving and beryllium replicated successful different distant locations, definite strategies must stay successful focus:

• Ongoing collaboration betwixt nationalist and municipal wellness authorities
• Investment successful training and master development for section healthcare workers
• Infrastructure modernization, including diagnostics and telemedicine tools
• Incentives and argumentation support to pull specialists to land postings
• Responsive governance mechanisms to resoluteness logistical, technical, and administrative issues promptly

A Model for National Replication

If consistently supported, nan Con Dao master rotation programme could service arsenic a national benchmark for improving wellness services successful distant and underserved regions. It demonstrates really policy innovation, resource coordination, and community-based solutions tin converge to beforehand healthcare equity.

By reducing nan reliance connected diligent transfers and investing successful on-site care, nan inaugural represents a captious measurement toward ensuring that each Vietnamese citizens—regardless of geography—can entree high-quality healthcare services.