Health Minister explains why Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital 2 are not yet operational

During National Assembly panel discussions on economic-socio and state budget issues, Health Minister Dao Hong Lan said that the Bach Mai Hospital project and Viet Duc Hospital 2 have completed their shells but are not yet in operation. She made the remarks during a session on the morning of April 10, focusing on related economic and social content.

The minister said the past five years were a particularly difficult period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted all aspects of life. She added that, thanks to Parliament’s unprecedented targeted resolutions and the economic recovery and development program, the health sector received support totaling 14,000 billion VND to strengthen the system.

Institutional bottlenecks and tighter processing times

Dao Hong Lan said the sector’s stability has benefited from removing institutional bottlenecks, especially in procurement, bidding, and administrative reform. However, she acknowledged that the workload and pressure have increased as dossier processing times have tightened—for example, cosmetics dossiers are handled in 3 days—requiring extraordinary effort from the expert team.

She emphasized that to protect and encourage officials to think and act, the institutional system must be transparent and clear. The minister also pointed to ongoing obstacles in handling backlog projects, noting that legal regulations can overlap and be inconsistent across laws, creating issues during implementation when reviewing the texts themselves.

“Currently, even in handling backlog projects there are many institutional obstacles. At times, legal regulations are overlapping and inconsistent across laws, so during implementation, when reviewing, issues arise from the texts themselves,” she said.

Lessons from backlog hospital projects

Citing the Bach Mai Hospital complex 2 and Viet Duc Hospital 2 projects—both of which completed the shell but could not operate—the minister said the backlog extends up to 10 years, with violations arising from contracting stages.

She said that simply requiring violations to be regularized would be difficult to resolve. Instead, the approach is to acknowledge and accept the violations as a basis for proposing solutions, while identifying the officials involved. She added that addressing individuals based on past violations should not be treated in a way that avoids accountability for “knowing it’s wrong but still doing” during the resolution process.

“If we only demand that violations be regularized, it will be very difficult to resolve. We chose to acknowledge and accept the violations as a basis to propose solutions. At the same time, it’s necessary to identify the officials involved; addressing those on the basis of past violations will not be treated as violations to avoid later accountability for 'knowing it’s wrong but still doing' during the resolution process,” she said.

The minister said the core is to provide suitable remedies, ensure there is no corruption or negative factors, and act in the public interest. She warned that allowing a large project to remain stagnant could lead to more serious consequences.

Why projects still cannot operate

Dao Hong Lan added that despite active work, including during the Tet holiday, the projects still cannot operate because handling each project—especially hospitals—requires completing additional procedures.

She said that in construction terms, the projects have essentially finished, and the facilities are comparable to a “five-star hotel.” However, she noted that achieving this result took 10 years and 10 months involving ministries, sectors, and contractors.

Fire safety reassessment under stricter rules

Another key issue, the minister said, relates to fire safety. Because the projects were built about a decade ago, the fire safety regulations at the time were based on the older law. Under current rules, reassessment must comply with newer, stricter standards, which requires adjustments.

She said some parts must be dismantled, additional doors added, and the approval process re-run. After the fire safety plan was approved, further construction adjustments, demolitions, and renovations were still required to meet the new requirements.

“After a long time, the fire safety plan was approved. However, after approval, further construction adjustments, demolitions, and renovations are needed to meet the new requirements,” the Health Minister said.

Auditing and implementation challenges across thousands of projects

The minister said that once the government allows handling based on existing issues, authorities must be bold in auditing and implementing under that mechanism. However, she said reality shows that about 5,000 backlog projects would involve 5,000 different stories.

She warned that without strong determination, stopping at inspection proposals is not enough. The main challenge will be organizing deployment and implementation, which will impose heavy responsibility on ministries, sectors, and localities.

“If there is no strong determination, merely stopping at inspection proposals is not enough; the deployment and implementation organization will be the major challenge, imposing heavy responsibility on ministries, sectors, and localities,” she added.