The hospitals in Can Tho City are in urgent need of doctors despite the best efforts in policy reform and other measures to attract new recruits.
Can Tho City Mental Hospital fails to recruit new doctors
Bui Thi Le Phi, Head of Can Tho City Department of Health, said they had asked to raise the number of beds to 205 and the number of doctors to 246 in 2013, but the request has not been fulfilled.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan, Director of Can Tho Tuberculosis and Lung Hospital, said they have been unable to recruit new doctors since 1995. Currently they have a total of 80 beds with only 12 doctors attending them. The hospital also gives care to six other surrounding provinces.
The psychiatric hospital there is in a similar situation. According to the head of the hospital, Nguyen Tien An, they have had only eight doctors since 1998, but normally care for over 200 patients each day.
While pressure on doctors in public hospitals is high, pay remains low in comparison with their option of opening private practices.
The local Department of Health is attempting to recruit 327 staff members to be ready for the opening of the new Can Tho General Hospital, which will be equipped with more than 500 beds, as well as the Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, with 250 beds.
In addition, they also asked to amend the current hiring regulation allowing university graduates to immediately begin work in city and provincial hospitals. They also proposed more incentives to attract more specialists to treat tuberculosis patients and those with other lung disorders, as well as mental health and forensics experts.
Can Tho City's Forensic Medicine Center currently has only three doctors. "Despite the high level of responsibility we take on, we are not compensated well," said the head of the hospital, Ho Bay.