The medical tourism model, which integrates hospital, hotel, and resort services, will be piloted in five localities with strong tourism potential: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, and Khanh Hoa, according to a recent Ministry of Health project.

To realize this trend, on 1/3, Vinmec Ocean Park 2 Hospital, with a total investment of nearly 1,500 billion VND, officially commenced operations in Hung Yen. This medical complex applies a model that integrates treatment, recovery, and recuperation processes within a self-contained environment. Patients experience a complete journey from diagnosis and surgery to international-standard recuperation, rather than focusing solely on basic treatment.

Patients undergoing scans at the hospital. *Photo: Loan Tran*

Spanning over 31,000 square meters, this facility provides 114 inpatient beds and is expected to serve approximately 135,000 outpatient visits annually across 14 specialties. The board of directors is focusing efforts on developing two key areas: orthopedic trauma and advanced rehabilitation.

The establishment of self-contained medical complexes directly supports the government's giai doan 2025-2027 pilot roadmap for the hospital-hotel-resort model. Regulatory bodies have selected five localities with strong tourism potential: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Quang Ninh, and Khanh Hoa, to implement the first 10-15 high-tech service packages. The health sector aims for at least 15 facilities nationwide to achieve JCI international quality certification by 2030, and requires units to establish multilingual communication departments to access the global market.

The Department of Medical Examination and Treatment assesses medical tourism as playing a strategic role in promoting economic growth and enhancing national standing. In reality, Thailand earns hundreds of millions of USD annually from low-cost heart and cosmetic surgeries, while South Korea and Japan achieve billions of USD in revenue from cancer treatment combined with local cultural promotion. In Vietnam, before the Covid-19 pandemic, the health sector also recorded positive signals with approximately 300,000 foreign visitors seeking medical examination and treatment annually.

To encourage deeper private sector participation in this market segment, the Ministry of Health leadership requires facilities to strictly adhere to the "5 No's" motto in medical examination and treatment activities, particularly emphasizing dedicated service and avoiding inconvenience. Authorities are also urgently completing the legal framework, removing bottlenecks in infrastructure and insurance to encourage investment flows, making Vietnam a competitive destination on the regional medical tourism map.

Le Nga