Health Minister Đào Hồng Lan speaks at the inauguration ceremony on Friday. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

NINH BÌNH — The second campuses of Bạch Mai Hospital and Việt Đức University Hospital were inaugurated on Friday, marking a significant step in alleviating chronic overcrowding at central hospitals in Hà Nội following years of construction delays.

Deputy Prime Minister Lê Thành Long attended the inauguration in Ninh Bình Province, alongside senior Government and health officials, including Health Minister Đào Hồng Lan.

Each new facility has a planned capacity of 1,000 beds and is designed as part of a broader strategy to decentralise high-level health care services from Hà Nội, where top hospitals have long operated far beyond capacity.

"These projects are not simply an expansion of hospital capacity," Minister Lan said at the ceremony.

"They represent a strategic shift toward a more modern and equitable health care system."

Construction of the two hospital campuses began in 2015 but stalled for long periods due to shifting regulations, complex procurement rules, high technical requirements and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At several points, work was suspended entirely, pushing the projects into what officials described as a prolonged impasse.

The breakthrough came in February 2025, when the Government issued Resolution 34, creating a special policy framework to untangle legal and financial bottlenecks that had paralysed the projects.

After more than 10 months of renewed work, the main construction components were completed ahead of the timeline set under the resolution.

Deputy Prime Minister Lê Thành Long visits the newly inaugurated campuses.

Built to modern hospital standards, the two campuses feature advanced medical equipment, integrated digital management systems and infrastructure designed to support high-level specialised care comparable to regional benchmarks.

A Bạch Mai Hospital representative said its second campus is being developed as one of Việt Nam’s first 'smart hospitals' within the public health care system, with fully interconnected hospital information and laboratory systems linking the Hà Nội headquarters and the new facility.

The campus will begin operations in phases. The initial capacity will be 325 inpatient beds, focusing on essential services such as emergency medicine, diagnostics and imaging.

"Patients treated here will receive the same standard of care as at our main campus in Hà Nội," said Đào Xuân Cơ, director of Bạch Mai Hospital.

Việt Đức University Hospital director Dương Đức Hùng said the new campus, designed to European standards, would allow the hospital to expand key surgical specialties while clearly differentiating clinical functions between the two sites.

The health minister said her ministry is working with Ninh Bình authorities to address supporting infrastructure, housing and incentive policies to attract and retain medical staff at the new sites. — VNS