HCM CITY — Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City will continue to deploy physicians and specialists for medical assistance at Chợ Rẫy Phnom Penh Hospital in Cambodia, according to Nguyễn Trường Sơn, director of Chợ Rẫy Hospital.

Since its inception in 2014, Chợ Rẫy Phnom Penh Hospital has received an average of 15 Vietnamese physicians every week who are sent temporarily to work at there.

The number of inpatients at Chợ Rẫy Phnom Penh Hospital rose sharply to 5,590 last year from 1,260 in 2014, an indication that patients now have more trust in their local doctors.

Thousands of physicians from Hùng Vương Hospital, Từ Dũ Hospital and Chợ Rẫy Hospital in Việt Nam have worked at Chợ Rẫy Phnom Penh Hospital and shared specialised medical knowledge and transferred medical technologies to their Cambodian peers.

With strong support from Vietnamese hospitals, Cambodians can more easily access medical services without travelling abroad and Cambodian doctors can improve their professional skills as well.

“This is evidence of a good neighbuorly friendship between the two countries,” he said.

Vietnamese doctors from Chợ Rẫy Hospital in HCM City will continue to support their Cambodian peers, using telemedicine and travel to the hospital in Phnom Penh to perform surgery and treat patients with serious diseases.

Trần Thanh Tùng, general director of Chợ Rẫy Phnom Penh Hospital, said many Cambodians often travelled to neighbouring countries, including Thailand, Singapore and Việt Nam, for check-ups and treatment because they did not trust local doctors.

With medical training and technology transfer from Vietnamese doctors, more and more Cambodian people trust doctors at Chợ Rẫy Phnom Penh Hospital, resulting in a rising volume of patients, according to Tùng.

The number of patients undergoing surgery was 955 last year compared to 236 in 2014.

In the first eight months of the year, the figure rose by 51 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The 500-bed Chợ Rẫy Phnom Penh Hospital, a joint venture between Việt Nam’s Saigon Medical Investment JSC and Cambodia’s Sokimex Co, has departments specialising in internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, cardiology, trauma and orthopedics, diagnostic tests, and emergency aid. — VNS