Patients with health insurance wait for examination and treatment at Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City. — Photo sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY — Patients covered by public health insurance have to wait for at least four or five hours for their turn at tertiary hospitals and district-level medical facilities in HCM City.

The coverage is mandated by the Law on Health Insurance, and ranges from 80 per cent to 100 per cent.

With a growing number of health insurance patients visiting public hospitals, overcrowding is worsening at major ones, according to doctors.

At Chợ Rẫy, the largest public hospital in the south, there is a long queue for registration from early in the morning and hundreds wait in line for their turn to be examined until noon.

The hospital receives 6,000-7,000 outpatients daily, sometimes more than 8,000, according to its statistics.

The number of inpatients ranges from 2,500 to 2,800, while the emergency department treats 350 - 400 cases.

The HCM City Oncology Hospital is also facing huge pressure with new cancer diagnoses constantly increasing, according to Dr. Võ Hồng Minh Phước, its deputy director.

Many patients travel from provinces to the hospital early in the morning hoping to complete treatment and return home the same day to save accommodation costs, causing serious overloading in the morning.

Besides, its capacity has not kept pace with demand, resulting in longer and longer waiting times.

To cope, the hospital has extended its examination and radiation treatment hours to almost midnight.

It encourages patients to go online for appointment booking, payment for its fees and health insurance and obtaining test results to reduce the time they spend in the hospital.

At Thủ Đức City Hospital, a lot of health insurance patients come from early morning to noon, and the lobby, corridor and clinic areas are always crowded as a result.

Dr Hoàng Văn Dũng, its deputy director, said there were 3,500-4,500 of them every day.

The number at the Hóc Môn Regional General Hospital has recently risen to 1,700 from 1,400 - 1,500. —VNS