Bach Mai Hospital is a multi-field medical facility in
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
and is considered one of the largest in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
. The hospital was established in 1911 during the
French colonial rule
The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
. It has played an important role in the health system of Vietnam and is one of three high specialized
medical
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practi ...
centers, specializing in
internal medicine. It is a big center of cadres training and scientific research in the country. The hospital has 3,500 beds and 4,300 staff.
During Nixon's Christmas bombing,
Operation Linebacker II
Operation Linebacker II was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by U.S. Seventh Air Force, Strategic Air Command and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) during the final period of ...
, on December 22, 1972, American bombs struck the hospital, obliterating the building and killing 28 hospital staff members and an unconfirmed number of patients.
A special rehabilitation unit was opened in 1998 for treating adults and children with disabling conditions (
stroke and
cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be p ...
). The unit sponsored by
Veterans for America has seen more than 1,700 patients and has fitted more than 2,100 plastic braces since its establishment.
In 2000, Bach Mai Hospital was partly reconstructed and supplied with up-to-date facilities and equipment under a
grant
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
* Castle Grant
United States
*Grant, Alabama
* Grant, Inyo County, ...
aid project of the Government of Japan.
When
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, '' s ...
broke out in Vietnam in 2003, Bach Mai Hospital substantially contributed to putting it under control by providing strict
nosocomial infection control, which was implemented by Japanese experts.
There is a small
speech therapy
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...
unit at the hospital, headed by Dr. Vu Thi Bich Hanh.
In May 2008, a spinal unit with 25 patient beds was established with the help of
Handicap International.
Vietnam War bombing
During Nixon's Christmas bombing,
Operation Linebacker II
Operation Linebacker II was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by U.S. Seventh Air Force, Strategic Air Command and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) during the final period of ...
, on 22 December 1972, over 100 American bombs struck the hospital, obliterating the building and killing 28 hospital staff members and an unconfirmed number of patients, despite most taking refuge in the hospital's basement.
Almost the entire hospital was destroyed, including the operating rooms and pharmacy stock. The US military claimed that the hospital "frequently housed anti-aircraft positions."
According to the director of the hospital, Đỗ Doãn Đại, the US bombing served to break the morale of hospital staff and Hanoians.
The hospital was subsequently rebuilt, largely with private donations from the United States.
A
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
memorial to the victims can be seen in the courtyard today.
COVID-19 pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital served as an intensive care center for treating COVID-19 patients.
See also
*
List of hospitals in Vietnam
References
External links
Official page of Bach Mai Hospital
Hospitals in Hanoi
Hospitals established in 1911
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