HCM CITY — The City Paediatrics Hospital in HCM City’s Bình Chánh District yesterday officially opened after four years of construction.

The hospital, which cost VNĐ4.5 trillion (US$197 million) and was paid for with funds from the central government’s budget, covers more than 12,000 square metres. It includes one basement and eight floors with more than 1,000 beds.

The hospital focuses on the most modern techniques in the paediatrics field in Việt Nam.

It is equipped with an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, which is similar to a heart-lung bypass machine used in open-heart surgery; a hybrid operating room for cardiac surgery; and other modern equipment.

For the paediatrics oncology unit, the hospital has set up the first nuclear medicine unit for children in the southern region.

Nguyễn Thị Thu, vice chairwoman of the city’s People’s Committee, said that besides the city’s pediatrics hospitals 1 and 2, the City Pediatrics Hospital provides healthcare services and rescue services for children not only in the city but also in provinces and cities in the southern region.

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến said the hospital would become one of the most modern specialised hospitals in Việt Nam.

Since January last year, the hospital has opened several facilities and admitted 1,200 to 1,300 children daily for health examinations and treatment. It sees between 350 to 400 inpatients each day.

The new hospital is expected to reduce overcrowding at the city’s paediatrics hospitals 1 and 2.— VNS