Military Hospital 7A (under the Logistics and Technical Department of Military Region 7) is a top-tier, multi-specialty hospital at the final referral level. It is responsible for providing medical examinations, admissions, and treatment for officers and soldiers of Military Region 7’s armed forces, as well as policy beneficiaries, health insurance holders, and civilians (with partial hospital fee collection). Additionally, the hospital is always prepared to participate in epidemic prevention and control efforts within its jurisdiction. Beyond these duties, the hospital is also assigned to rotate medical teams for ensuring military healthcare services on Truong Sa Dong Island and to provide medical support for Naval Region 2, among other responsibilities. Since 2019, Military Hospital 7A has been operating under a fully autonomous financial model, while also navigating the challenges of relocating its departments to accommodate the second phase of its treatment facility construction, as well as the upgrade and renovation of various infrastructures. Despite these difficulties - such as limitations in medical facilities, equipment, and supplies - the hospital’s team of doctors and medical staff, driven by unwavering dedication, responsibility, and adherence to the noble virtues of the “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” and military medical personnel, have consistently fulfilled their assigned missions. Each year, the hospital provides medical care, admission, and treatment for over 250,000 officers, soldiers, and civilians, with a bed occupancy rate exceeding 150%. Notably, it played a crucial role as one of the key medical institutions in Military Region 7 for Covid-19 treatment, significantly contributing to the protection and healthcare of both military personnel and local communities. In recognition of its outstanding achievements, Military Hospital 7A has been awarded the Second-Class Fatherland Protection Order by the President (2021), the Third-Class Labour Order (2023), and has been consecutively honoured with the Military Region’s Emulation Flag as the leading unit in the Determined to Win Emulation Movement from 2021 to 2024, along with numerous other prestigious commendations.

Comrade Nguyen Trong Nghia, Head of the Party's Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilisation Commission visited the Hospital on the occasion of Vietnamese Doctors' Day in 2023

To achieve these remarkable results, the Party Committee, the Board of Directors of the hospital, and the leadership of various departments have focused on comprehensive and synchronised implementation of strategic policies and solutions. Among these, the top priority has been the development of a team of medical practitioners who are “Ethical in conduct, profound in medical knowledge, and skilled in medical practice.” This has been identified as the key and core element within the hospital’s three fundamental pillars - human resources, medical equipment, and infrastructure - to enhance professional capacity and meet the increasingly high demands of protecting and providing healthcare services for military personnel and civilians.

Medical ethics is a noble virtue of healthcare professionals, cultivated through formal education, further refined through self-discipline and practical experience, and shaped by the ability to withstand and rise above the negative influences of market mechanisms. Fully aware of this, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of Military Hospital 7A have placed special emphasis on enhancing medical ethics among doctors and medical staff, considering this a breakthrough priority. To achieve tangible results, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors have mandated that all levels of leadership reinforce political and ideological education, particularly by instilling and practising President Ho Chi Minh’s teaching: “A physician must be as compassionate as a mother.” This approach aims to instil a profound sense of honour and responsibility in medical professionals, fostering an appropriate service mindset, dedication, and wholehearted commitment to patient care. The hospital has implemented diverse educational and awareness-raising methods, including studying resolutions, training sessions, briefings, and hands-on experience in medical practice. A particular focus has been placed on improving professional conduct, patient communication, and service-oriented behaviour, ensuring that doctors and military medical staff demonstrate empathy, dedication, and attentiveness when interacting with patients and their families. Additionally, the hospital has strengthened the education of traditional values to reinforce the awareness and responsibility of military healthcare professionals, adhering to the principle of “Patient satisfaction first.” Various movements, campaigns, and social activities such as “Military medics following Uncle Ho’s teachings,” “Voluntary blood donation,” and “For community health” have been actively promoted, serving as motivation for each doctor and medical staff member to continually improve their medical ethics. The hospital has also enhanced the role of its Social Work Task Force in addressing issues arising during medical examinations and treatment, ensuring transparency in medical procedures, significantly reforming administrative processes, and strengthening monitoring and supervision to safeguard the highest rights of patients. Furthermore, medical teams are regularly deployed to conduct examinations and treatment in remote, rural, and island areas, allowing healthcare professionals to gain deeper insight into the hardships faced by military personnel and civilians. These experiences foster empathy, gratitude, and a deeper commitment to the noble mission of healing and saving lives. In addition, the hospital maintains a suggestion box and hotline to promptly address feedback from patients and their families. Strict adherence to professional briefings and operational reviews ensures that shortcomings in attitude, responsibility, and service spirit are promptly rectified, while ethical violations are dealt with decisively. As a result, 100% of the hospital’s doctors and medical staff uphold a strong sense of duty, demonstrating boundless compassion and dedication to patient care. They firmly reject bureaucracy, abuse of power, harassment, and any behaviour that causes inconvenience to patients and their families. These efforts have significantly contributed to strengthening and spreading the noble image of “The Military Medic - A Soldier in White.”

Healing and saving lives is among the most honourable and meticulous professions, particularly within the Army. This noble calling demands that healthcare professionals not only uphold medical ethics but also possess genuine expertise to fulfil their immense responsibility towards patients and society. Recognising this, alongside strengthening professional ethics, the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of Military Hospital 7A have prioritised the development of a highly skilled and knowledgeable medical workforce, considering this an urgent and continuous requirement for the hospital’s advancement. To implement this strategic objective, in addition to advising higher authorities on the deployment and appointment of medical personnel based on specialised needs, the hospital proactively selects doctors, military medical staff, and nurses to attend both short-term and long-term training programmes at military and civilian medical institutions. Special emphasis is placed on training at leading medical and pharmaceutical universities in Ho Chi Minh City, allowing professionals to balance study with clinical practice while addressing human resource shortages. Simultaneously, the hospital has intensified on-the-job training and professional development through a mentorship approach, where senior specialists and highly experienced professionals provide guidance to less experienced colleagues and newly recruited staff. The hospital also actively engages in partnerships, collaboration, and training programmes to facilitate technology transfer and enhance medical expertise. Special focus is placed on developing highly specialised fields and adopting cutting-edge medical technologies, particularly in surgery, intensive care, infectious diseases, and military medicine. As a result, the number of medical professionals with postgraduate qualifications has steadily increased, leading to a progressive enhancement in the quality of healthcare services. Currently, over 80% of the hospital’s doctors and medical staff hold university and postgraduate degrees, including two doctoral degree holders, four master’s degree holders, 15 second-degree specialists, 21 first-degree specialists, 16 senior physicians, 14 principal physicians, two senior engineers, one principal pharmacist, and more than 80% of nurses holding bachelor’s degrees or higher. This strong foundation has enabled the hospital to comprehensively develop its specialised departments, particularly in surgery and key disciplines such as joint replacement surgery, arthroscopy of the shoulder, hip, and knee, neurosurgery and spinal surgery, laparoscopic gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, and urological surgery, as well as endoscopic ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgery.

Conducting treatment at the Department of Nephrology and Dialysis

Alongside enhancing professional expertise, Military Hospital 7A places great emphasis on fostering comprehensive competencies, independent thinking, and creativity among its medical staff. This is achieved through the effective implementation of the “Scientific Research and Technical Innovation Unit” model. Over the years, the hospital has taken decisive measures to promote scientific research, requiring departments to develop research topics, assign responsible doctors and specialists, and encourage new, practical studies in medical examination and treatment. Since 2019, the hospital has successfully completed 64 research projects and 30 innovations, all of which have been approved at the institutional level. Additionally, two research projects have been recognised at the Ministry of National Defence level, and nearly 200 scientific papers and research works have been published in both domestic and international medical journals. Notably, in 2021, a Ministry of National Defence-level project on “Research and development of an external fixation frame for the proximal femur using carbon composite materials” won Second Prize in the Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Awards (VIFOTEC), while another innovation secured Second Prize in the National Military Youth Innovation Awards. The hospital has successfully applied these scientific research outcomes to emergency care, patient admission, and treatment, significantly enhancing the quality of its medical services. More importantly, these achievements have inspired and motivated medical professionals to strive for excellence, contributing to their professional growth and fostering a forward-thinking medical mindset. To sustain this momentum, the hospital’s Scientific Council conducts monthly specialised technical seminars and organises an annual hospital-wide Scientific and Technical Innovation Competition alongside an Expanded Scientific Conference. These efforts have culminated in the hospital receiving official certification for scientific and technological research activities, under the registered name “7A Centre for Scientific and Technological Research”. This certification lays a solid foundation for further development, ensuring that research projects are strategically planned, expanded, and effectively integrated into medical practice, ultimately improving both human resource quality and treatment effectiveness. In addition, the hospital actively collaborates with major military and civilian hospitals, signing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for scientific and technological cooperation with institutions such as the Youth Science and Technology Development Centre under the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union, the Biotechnology Centre of Ho Chi Minh City, the New Materials Centre and Tissue Engineering Department of the University of Science, the Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, and the Ho Chi Minh City International University. These collaborations aim to maximise external resources to advance medical training, scientific research, and technical innovation. Furthermore, the hospital has strengthened its professional partnerships with Cho Ray Hospital, the Trauma and Orthopaedics Hospital, the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, and Hung Vuong Hospital, among others. These partnerships help reduce patient overload, facilitate expertise exchange, and create opportunities for doctors, nurses, and technicians to receive further training, update their knowledge, and gain valuable clinical experience, thereby meeting the increasingly high demands of modern medical care.

Building on its achievements, Military Hospital 7A remains steadfast in its commitment to the principle that “investing in people is investing in development.” The hospital continues to implement consistent, determined, and strategic measures to cultivate a team of military medical officers, doctors, and healthcare staff that truly embody the values of "both ethical and proficient” professionals. With a clear vision for the future, the hospital is dedicated to developing itself into a “modern - specialised - patient-friendly” institution, striving to rank among the “Top 10 military hospitals nationwide” and the “Top 20 hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City” by 2025. This ambitious goal reflects its unwavering dedication to enhancing medical services and fulfilling its mission of protecting and improving the health of military personnel and civilians.

Colonel, MSc DO NGOC THANH

Director of the Hospital