Reconsideration of hospital equitisation having domino effect

17:37' 22/07/2007 (GMT+7)

A hospital in HCM City. VietNamNet Bridge – The decision by the HCM City People’s Committee to not equitise the Binh Dan Hospital has not only affected investors who bought stocks of this hospital that have not been issued yet but also halted many similar projects. HCM City: no more equitisation for Binh Dan Hospital Binh Dan was the first hospital in HCM City chosen for equitisation on a trial basis. However, this scheme was not carried out because of many problems, one of which is the protest of many people against the equitisation of state-owned hospitals, who said that HCM City should not sell a state-owned hospital to businessmen. Binh Dan is now seeking another way to seek capital to invest in equipment and infrastructure. The stopping of equitisation of this hospital has not only derailed investors who bought stocks of this hospital though they have not been issued yet but also some other state-owned hospitals in HCM City which have been planning to perform equitisation. Previously, HCM City scheduled to equitise Binh Dan first, then the Eye Hospital, the Hung Vuong Obstetrics Hospital, People’s Gia Dinh Hospital, and People 115 Hospital. “Our hospital has registered to conduct equitisation with the HCM City Department of Health in 2009 but now Binh Dan Hospital has stopped its equitisation so perhaps we will not equitise our hospital anymore, but have to wait for an instruction from the Health Department,” said Doctor Do Hoang Giao, Director of the People’s Gia Dinh Hospital. Directors of the Eye and Hung Vuong Obstetrics Hospitals also said that they would halt the equitisation process. It is the same for People 115 Hospital. Nguyen The Dung, director of the HCM City Department of Health, said that as the public had different opinions about the equitisation of hospitals, not only HCM City but other provinces had temporarily stopped equitising their hospitals to re-consider and select a more suitable form of investment and development to better serve patients. Development models that HCM City Department of Health is considering, according to Mr. Dung, include three types: non-profit, one-member state-owned limited liability company; private hospital; and combinations of state-owned and private (equitisation is in this form). The first form, non-profit, one-member state-owned limited liability company, has been successfully applied by some countries, especially Singapore, Mr. Dung said. The difficulty of most state-owned hospitals is lack of financial sources. However, many say that socialising the health sector is not only equitisation but calling for investment into hospitals in other ways. (Source: Thanh Nien, Viet Nam Net)