The Military Hospital 17 is the first-class general hospital of the Military Region 5. In addition to receiving, giving first aid to, and treating cadres and soldiers from the Military Region 5’s units, the Hospital also actively takes part in providing medical examination and treatment for people under the preferential treatment policy, patients with health insurance, and citizens of Dang Nang city, Quang Nam province, and Quang Ngai province, while maintaining readiness for establishing the Level 2 Field Hospital No.3 to receive COVID-19 patients, with a view to reducing the workload of higher-level hospitals, cutting medical bills of patients, and improving the people’s health.

The Hospital’s Party Committee for the 2020-2025 tenure

Although the task requirements are increasingly demanding, the quality of a number of pieces of medical equipment have deteriorated, and the procurement of medical equipment has yet to keep pace with other hospitals in the area, the Hospital’s Party Committee and Board of Directors have synchronously adopted various measures for improving the task performance, medical ethics, and health-care services. In this regard, greater importance has been attached to raising the task performance, developing new medical techniques, and consolidating specialised techniques. The Hospital has also placed emphasis on building technical procedures, organising professional training courses, and enhancing the quality of diagnosis and medical treatment. Many severe cases or chronic illnesses, such as multi-organ failure, liver failure, heart failure, chronic kidney failure, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding have been correctly diagnosed and effectively, safely treated. Facing infectious diseases, such as dengue fever and meningitis, the Hospital has quickly taken measures for quarantine and successful treatment. Moreover, the Hospital has opportunely performed surgeries to save many patients with severe illnesses, such as traumatic brain injury and gastrointestinal perforation. The Hospital has successfully treated multiple injuries, such as spinal fracture, sternal fracture, limb fracture, femur fracture, and herniated disk.

Several new medical techniques, such as endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), bronchoscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EDG), hemodiafiltration, hyperbaric oxygen treatment, discectomy, partial and total endoscopic thyroidectomy, laparoscopic surgery, laparoscopic surgery for renal stones, laser lithotripsy, endoscopic ear, nose, and throat surgery, and phacoemulsification have been developed and facilitated medical treatment effectively. The Hospital has gradually studied and successfully applied sophisticated medical techniques, such as endoscopic posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, hip and knee joint replacement, microdiscectomy, partial and total thyroidectomy with ultrasonic scalpel, anesthesia with single-lung ventilation during cardiothoracic surgeries, anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, anesthesia with laryngeal mask airway, and excision of thoracic sympathetic ganglion. The Hospital’s health care and medical treatment have been, therefore, improved to prove its capacity and prestige and bring satisfaction to patients.

Furthermore, the Hospital has stringently maintained the regulations on the professional work. It has set the system of quality management according to the set of criteria 2.0 for hospital quality assessment established by the Ministry of Health, while maintaining the order for disease evaluation, consultation, and treatment so that many severe cases have been opportunely treated. During the consultation process, the Hospital has promoted the knowledge of its doctors and taken advantage of support from its friendly hospitals and top experts. In the treatment process, the Hospital has attached great value to combining modern medicine with traditional medicine and adopting the three methods of “medication and technology, nursing care, and optimism” for treatment. As a result, the quality of medical consultation and treatment has been enhanced. Many chronic or life-threatening cases have been opportunely, effectively treated. The Hospital’s doctors, nurses, employees and soldiers have always showed a friendly attitude towards patients, which has turned the Military Hospital 17 into a reliable medical centre for both troops and locals in the area.

Due regard has been paid to enhancing the quality of the subclinical work. The quality of medical imaging and test has satisfied the requirements set by diagnosis and treatment. Consideration has been given to screening cancer, ensuring blood units for first aid, maintaining safety during blood transfusion, and sterilising operating rooms with the EIROCISE steriliser. To sufficiently supply medications, chemicals, and medical materials, the Hospital has developed annual plans for bidding of medicines and medical supplies, while allocating, storing, and using medications under the regulations.

In order to improve its doctors’ professional competence, the Hospital has placed emphasis on training front-line doctors and building a contingent of physicians with political zeal, pure medical ethics, and great professional competence. The Hospital has created a favourable condition for its staff members to broaden their knowledge and approach advanced techniques. It has implemented many policies to attract talents. On a yearly basis, the Hospital dispatches tens of its cadres and employees to study at military and civilian educational facilities. Significance has been attached to organising on-the-spot refresher courses within departments in accordance with the practical conditions and task requirements. Due attention has been paid to receiving medical techniques from higher-level military hospitals, such as 103, 108 and 175 as well as from civilian hospitals. Up to now, 65% of the Hospital’s staff members have undergone postgraduate courses, 8% of them have held doctorate, 15% of them have held master’s degree, 18% of them have become Specialist Level 2 Doctors, and 30% of them have been Specialist Level 1 Doctors. Staff members of the Hospital have always actively improved their professional competence and knowledge of foreign languages and information technology. They have received, transferred, and developed new medical techniques for internal medicine, surgery, and paraclinical work to meet the increasingly higher health-care demands of locals and the armed forces in the area.

Under the motto: “A physician must be like a good mother,” great value has been attached to managing and nursing patients kindly. Besides, the Hospital has enhanced the work of propagation and education to raise its staff members’ awareness, responsibility, medical morality and service. It has strictly maintained head nurses’ meetings on a weekly basis, its internal statutes, and the procedures for medical care set by the Ministry of Health.

The Hospital has always placed emphasis on scientific research. Many scientific conferences, workshops, and meetings have been organised. Researches and technical innovations have been undertaken to develop new techniques for medical treatment and care. Many of the Hospital’s new initiatives and techniques have been applied to reducing the costs and boosting the quality of medical examination and treatment.

In addition to improving the professional competence, the Hospital has made more investments in facilities and medical supplies to meet the need of troops and locals for medical examination, treatment, and care. By mobilising different resources, the Hospital has focused on developing and applying specialised techniques to achieve a breakthrough in reception, emergency service, and treatment. It has proactively procured and effectively used modern equipment, such as the 16-layer computed tomography (systenu), the laparoscopic ultrasonic system, the phacoemulsification system, the esophagogastroduodenoscopy system for early detection of cancers, the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) system, the Cobas 6000 analyser for biochemical testing and immunoassay, and the plasma low-temperature sterilisation system, so as to improve medical examination and treatment and develop new, specialised techniques. To build a smart hospital, the Military Hospital 17 has formulated and executed the Project on Quality Control, proactively designed the new software “Hospital Management,” returned the testing results automatically, invested in installing equipment for radiation safety at CT, X-ray, and MRI rooms, and set up the closed-circuit television for surveillance and management to meet the requirements set by medical examination, treatment, and final settlement with the Health Insurance. Up to now, the Hospital has succeeded in developing its facilities, modern equipment, and new, specialist techniques. Consequently, the number of patients being moved to higher levels has been considerably reduced to make contributions to lessening the workload of senior hospitals and cutting patients’ medical bills.

Furthermore, the Hospital has always played a core role in military-civilian medical care via many proper measures in accordance with its practical conditions. It has actively provided free medical examination and medicine for locals in the areas of its responsibilities, with hundreds of millions of VND every year. It has also effectively taken part in national health programmes, such as vaccination, reproductive health care, population and family planning, while giving instructions on epidemic prevention and control to locals, consolidating and improving health stations in the remote, isolated, border communes. At the same time, it has played a vanguard role in overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and cleaning up the environment in the areas affected by natural disasters and epidemics. Under the direction by the Military Region 5’s Party Committee and Command, it has provided free medical examination and medicine for 3,600 Lao and Cambodian citizens and participated in dealing with the collapse of Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy project (Attapeu province, Laos), which has been highly appreciated by higher echelons and Laos authorities.

With its dedication to the people’s health, the Military Hospital 17 has always surmounted all difficulties to enhance the quality of medical examination, treatment and care, develop into a “cultural hospital” and a “five-good military medical unit,” and become a reliable medical address of locals.

Col. NGUYEN HONG HA, Director of the Military Hospital 17