CIH moves towards sustainable healthcare development

What challenges did CIH meet in 2022, and what were your highlights?

The Covid-19 pandemic seriously affected people's lives, posing many problems for society in general, but in particular, the health sector's frontline force. CIH worked with the Ho Chi Minh City government to ensure effective treatment and immunisation.

Ta Thi Thanh Thuy, MD, PhD, medical director, head of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of City International Hospital

When the pandemic was no longer such a threat to public health at the beginning of 2022, the hospital embarked on rebuilding professional activities and management to improve the quality of service and experience for our patients.

The Board of Directors has always focused on improving the professional capacity of our faculties, inviting experts to participate full-time or part-time in improving efficiency in medical treatment.

CIH maintained it's nearly 400 medical staff last year while recruiting about 20 per cent more doctors, nurses and technicians. Despite the difficulties, normal healthcare activities returned to normal in May 2022, and the number of visits totalled 75,452 for the year, higher than previous years.

Moreover, the hospital is constantly seeking opportunities for international cooperation with countries that have advanced medical backgrounds in Asia and Europe. 2022 was the year CIH cooperated with healthcare providers in Thailand, Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

The hospital saw some remarkable medical achievements last year, such as the application of modern surgical methods to prevent paralysis in a patient and a laparoscopic colectomy to save a 77-year-old man.

The hospital's fan page has reached 63,000 likes, 75,000 followers, has received more than 2,000 letters of thanks and positive reviews through social networks.

What are the hospital's goals for 2023 and beyond?

CIH is developing new centres for prenatal diagnosis, IVF treatment, stem cell research, and endoscopy, and hopes to increase the number of visits by 15 per cent compared to 2023.

In the future, the Hospital Management Board has a strong digital transformation orientation for both hospitals under Hoa Lam Shangrila Medical Group including CIH and Gia An 115.

Specifically, the activities of IT application and digital transformation activities at CIH include development of smart hospitals and the Lim Health GO application.

The Lim Health GO application is a healthcare solution utilised through smartphones that changes the approach to medical services towards efficiency, convenience, and quality. The application was born with the intention of building a complete and comprehensive medical ecosystem.

CIH strives to become one of the best private hospitals, treating patients to an international standard in Ho Chi Minh City.

How is CIH moving towards a sustainable development model?

Sustainable development is a common goal for those in the health sector, and CIH is no different.

Last year, the hospital planned and designed a green campus with a large park accounting for 30 per cent of the area, designed to take advantage of natural light to reduce electricity use during the day. The structure's walls use insulating glass, minimising heat transfer to the outside.

The hospital has a lighting system that uses high-efficiency LEDs to save electricity. Public areas are arranged with sensor lights to turn on and off automatically. Hand-washing stations are also designed to save water.

The building's refrigeration system uses inverter technology combined with solar air conditioners to help save energy.

In addition, the hospital has added more trees to the campus and green miniatures inside the hospital to create a green landscape, and hired contractors to take care of the plants.

CIH has performed well in reducing infectious waste through a process of sorting and treating waste at the source. The hospital has also minimised the amount of plastic waste emissions by using biodegradable materials for supplies, and replacing plastic drinking cups with paper cups.

The effective and economical use of drugs through reviewing processes of importing and storing medicines has helped cut down on waste from expired chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

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