Vietnam And Cambodia Make Hospital Developments

John C. Lincoln Hospitals (JCL) has signed an agreement with Vietnam’s Envita Asia Hospital Corp. The joint venture will provide the Vietnamese hospital’s most seriously ill and injured patients access to American healthcare expertise and technology.

John C. Lincoln Hospitals (JCL) has signed an agreement with Vietnam’s Envita Asia Hospital Corp. The joint venture will provide the Vietnamese hospital’s most seriously ill and injured patients access to American healthcare expertise and technology.

Le Thanh Cat Van, chairman of Envita Asia Hospital said he had been looking to partner with an American hospital for some time, and finally found a hospital receptive to the idea, “They are willing to exchange medical education and expertise training with physicians in Vietnam.”

Envita will pay for the travel expenses involved. Patients from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia will travel to JCL to receive treatment and receive an undisclosed discount on their medical bills.

In 2003, the Vietnamese government first allowed the private sector to offer medical services. There are now 18 locally owned private hospitals and two private hospitals with overseas owners. Envita’s chairman is leading a consortium to rebuild an aging French hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). The 70-bed hospital will open in February and there are plans to have 250 beds by 2011.

One of the few Vietnamese hospitals to attract medical tourists is FV Hospital, an international standard general hospital. Since establishment in 2003, FVH has been accredited by one of the most respected healthcare authorities worldwide: the French “Haute Autorité de Santé” (HAS). Located in Saigon South, just 15 minutes from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, it offers a wide range of medical and surgical services to over 150,000 patients a year. FV Hospital is 100 percent foreign-owned by a group of French, Swiss and Belgian doctors and leading international development banks. FV hospital offers a five-star hotel serviced room.

Bangkok Hospital is building a facility in Phnom Penh catering to Cambodians seeking high-end medical treatment. Thailand’s Bangkok Hospital hopes to encourage more wealthy patients to seek treatment in Cambodian hospitals. The Royal Phnom Penh Hospital, a US$40 million joint venture in partnership with Bangkok Hospital is expected to open in July 2009. The eight-storey building will initially accommodate 100 beds but will eventually expand to 200 beds. As financial conditions improve for more Cambodians, they have begun to seek medical treatment overseas in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The new Royal Phnom Penh Hospital seeks to keep more at home.