400 HCMC health workers quit in first quarter

Le Thien Quynh Nhu, deputy office head of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, on Monday said employees of hospitals and other public health entities quit every year. Among the reasons given were long commutes, low incomes and unsuitable environment, she added.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has caused hospitals’ and other health facilities’ income to drop, so it’s inevitable that health workers are quitting,” she said.

Nhu added the HCMC People’s Council, the legislature, would have a meeting this week to pass certain support policies for health workers.

Within the first 10 months of 2021, the HCMC health department saw 968 health workers quit, while only 597 resigned during the same period in 2020. More doctors and nurses in medical stations are quitting, the department added.

“If health workers don’t work in the public sector, they will work for the private sector. Doesn’t matter if its public or private, they would both take care of people’s health,” Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, office head of the HCMC health department, told a press meeting in November 2021.

HCMC also has the lowest ratio of medical workers out of all Vietnam localities, with only 2.31 for every 10,000 people, while the national average is seven for every 10,000 people.

The southern city has deployed multiple measures to raise the ratio, including by increasing medical capabilities, supplying health facilities with new graduates and encouraging retired workers to return. The health department has also proposed to the People’s Council to increase health workers’ income and support them with policies to help them develop their careers in the long run.