FV Hospital CFO honoured by UK magazine

How do you feel about having your name placed alongside the world's most illustrious female leaders?

The award came as a complete surprise. Women’s Tabloid learned about me through the merger of FV with Thomson Medical Group. To be honest, I've always focused solely on my work and have always considered myself a member of the FV family. Standing at the awards ceremony in Dubai, looking at the list of winners from the US, France, Europe…, I truly felt the honour of having my efforts at a Vietnamese hospital recognised internationally.

Tran Le Quyen was honoured as “Best Emerging Woman CFO in Healthcare 2025” at the Women's Tabloid Award 2025 ceremony in Dubai.

You joined FV in 2002. When you started, what direction did you envision?

At that time, there were no established financial frameworks for an international hospital in Vietnam. But from the very beginning, through my training and work in the US, I have identified one thing very clearly: “Managing cash flow and business success are paramount in the job of a chief financial officer”. I view finance as a tool to help hospitals operate better.

In the hospital business, “products” are not goods, but come from doctors, nurses, medical equipment, and are used to serve patients. I was involved in building the system, from medical record software and IT systems related to finance and accounting, to how to record expenses and revenue for each actual hospital activity.

The FV financial system is built from the bottom up, and every figure in the report accurately reflects what is happening in each department. That mindset later shaped FV's entire financial system.

How difficult were the early years?

For the first four years, the financial situation was very stressful. Private hospitals were a relatively new concept in Vietnam at that time, and it took a very long time for patients to trust them.

FV obtained financing from the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. They set extremely stringent reporting standards regarding transparency, timeliness, and accuracy. Although Vietnam did not yet have clear standards for private hospital finance at that time, FV's financial system followed international standards from the beginning.

When was the first milestone you took real pride in?

That was the debt restructuring programme in 2007. It might not sound appealing, but for FV at that time, it was vital. The programme helped FV save approximately $13 million out of a total investment of $44 million. That figure significantly reduced the financial burden, allowing the hospital to continue its stable growth.

What is your general assessment of hospital finance?

The hospital sector is arguably the most complex of all sectors. Other industries may produce a similar product, with a nearly fixed cost structure. Hospitals are different. When performing surgery on a patient, each surgical procedure depends on medical supplies, equipment, medications, as well as the skill of the doctor. Each doctor has a different working style, different surgical durations, and different treatment indications.

Even patients are affected: some only need simple intervention, while others have multiple underlying conditions, longer treatment times, and varying costs.

Building a price framework that is both competitive and transparent, while covering actual costs and ensuring returns for investors is a very difficult problem. To solve this problem, the financial system must be extremely detailed and closely aligned with the actual operations of each department.

Financial decisions can have a significant impact on the quality of treatment. How does FV solve this problem?

From the very beginning, FV has set a mission to put the patient at the centre. I am very proud to say that we have never allowed finances to interfere with our doctors' prescriptions.

There are many ways to increase profits, such as increasing testing, shortening hospital stays to rotate hospital beds faster, and choosing cheaper supplies. But FV didn't do that. All professional decisions rest with the medical boards. The role of finance is to optimise processes and procurement so that doctors have the best conditions to treat patients.

FV is one of the most expensive hospitals in the industry, yet its service prices have remained stable for many years, even when exchange rates are constantly fluctuating. What does the finance department do to reconcile these two factors?

This is a problem that FV's finance department has to solve every day. We have a detailed reporting system down to each department, and I also directly negotiate with many major suppliers and strategies to secure the best equipment purchase prices and terms. Most importantly, our hospital knows how to balance prices and high-quality treatment processes to attract enough patients to share depreciation so that the hospital can recoup its investment within the planning period or sooner.

For example, at the time we invested over $5 million in the Hy Vong Cancer Centre at the end of 2018, the centre's revenue was only about $2 million per year. To date, thanks to a strategy of optimising equipment and treatment quality at affordable price, that figure has exceeded $10 million per year.

FV has equipped itself with the Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system, worth over $3 million.

FV has also invested in the state-of-the-art Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system, a leading technology in Southeast Asia. Robotic surgery offers many benefits but is not cheap; we are working with suppliers to offer attractive prices for patients to experience robotic treatment after the Lunar New Year 2026.

FV's merger with Thomson Medical Group is considered one of the most high-profile M&A deals in the private healthcare industry. How did you feel when the deal was finalised?

When the deal was finalised, it was truly a “wow” moment. In fact, it is the result of nearly three years of preparation and over 20 years of building the financial system.

FV confidently chose to auction off the property to multiple investors simultaneously. Thanks to our detailed financial system spanning 60 departments, we can provide all the information investors need. They saw not just the assets, but a well-functioning, transparent, and scalable operating system. I am very proud that Thomson has such high regard for FV's financial system.

After more than 20 years working in healthcare finance, how would you define your role?

The CFO is a partner with the company in building a sustainable financial foundation. That requires high EQ, a willingness to accept challenges, and a spirit of continuous learning, including the application of AI.

If the finances are done correctly, this will not only help hospitals grow, but also directly contribute to improving the quality of treatment and even saving more lives.

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