Unsung heroes of Hanoi’s healthcare sector

There has been a dramatic change in the capital's healthcare landscape in recent years thanks to the "Good People, Good Deeds" campaign.

Kindness shines

Deputy Head of the Medical Equipment Department at Ha Dong General Hospital Pham Manh Hung. Photos: The Hanoi Times

As a veteran of 34 years in the health sector, Pham Manh Hung, Deputy Head of the Medical Equipment Department at Ha Dong General Hospital, views his act of rescuing a drowning victim as a modest and routine effort.

On the afternoon of July 22, 2024, while on a family vacation at Quynh Luu Beach in Nghe An, he heard cries for help—someone was drowning. Instinctively, he and his brother quickly swam to three girls who were being swept away by the waves. Despite their experience, knowledge, and best efforts, the strong waves occasionally engulfed all five of them. "At one point, I thought the worst might happen—that I wouldn't be able to save the three girls and might not survive myself. But driven by the instinct to survive, I pushed with all my strength, diving down to the seabed to pull them all  toward the shore."

After struggling against the waves for some time, Hung and his brother managed to drag the three girls safely ashore. When they finally made it back, he was almost exhausted, and they all realized just how fortunate they were. The three girls, who turned out to be high school teachers from Nguyen Cong Tru High School in Ha Tinh, came back the next day to thank him.

Anyone can face adversity in life, but not everyone is lucky. Those in need rely on the generosity, help, and support of others to get through difficult times. Even the most humble and simple act of kindness can carry great meaning, offering encouragement to those in need.

Pushing for more cases of organ transplants from brain-dead donors

For many years, since successfully performing kidney transplants from living donors, the leadership at Saint Paul General Hospital has been committed to retrieving and transplanting organs from brain-dead donors. This has been one of the key goals highlighted in the hospital’s annual development plans.

To achieve this goal, the hospital has set up various councils and specialized teams, including a brain death diagnosis council, an advisory team for organ donation, a resuscitation team, and transplant teams.

Tran Ngoc Son, Deputy Director of Saint Paul General Hospital, stated that over the years, the hospital's staff has participated in numerous workshops and training sessions on organ donation counseling, brain death diagnosis, resuscitation, and organ retrieval and transplantation.

Saint Paul General Hospital successfully performs organ retrieval and transplantation from a brain-dead donor.

“Among these efforts, the most challenging task has been to convince the families of brain-dead patients to consent to organ donation,” Son said.

Even at Viet Duc Hospital, the country's leading transplant center, the success rate for such efforts is only 3-4%. Over the past year, Saint Paul Hospital has been working tirelessly, day and night, to counsel the families of potential organ donors.

There were times when it seemed they had succeeded, but the families later had second thoughts. However, Saint Pual General Hospital has remained resolute, and undaunted, continuing with its routine organ donation counseling efforts.

This perseverance eventually paid off. On August 23-24, 2024, a new milestone was reached in the development of Hanoi’s healthcare sector. Saint Paul General Hospital became the first hospital to successfully persuade a family to donate organs from a brain-dead donor and to perform organ retrieval and transplant at the same time.

This achievement was the result of tremendous effort and dedication on the part of the hospital’s medical staff, in collaboration with the National Organ Coordination Center, various hospitals, and leading experts across the country.

The kidneys were transplanted into two patients with renal failure at Saint Paul General Hospital, the liver was transplanted at Viet Duc Hospital, and the corneas were used for patients at the 108 Military Central Hospital.

Most notably, the heart of a young man from Dong Anh, Hanoi, was flown nearly 2,000 km overnight to save a patient at the University Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Hanoi Department of Health awards Certificates of Merit to individuals and teams for their outstanding achievements in counseling, organ retrieval, and transplantation from brain-dead donors.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, Tran Van Chung, shared that since 2014, after 10 years of implementing Directive No. 34-CT/TW of the Politburo and Plan No.124-KH/TU of the Hanoi Party Committee on “Continuing to Innovate the Emulation and Reward Work,” the Capital’s healthcare sector has seen significant improvements.

Through the “Good People, Good Deeds” movement and the annual writing competition on role models, hundreds of outstanding individuals have been recognized.

“These ordinary but deeply humane examples among the Capital’s healthcare workers have had a far-reaching positive impact,” said Chung.

Since 2009, more than 11,500 individuals across the sector have been awarded the “Good People, Good Deeds” title at the departmental level, with 231 individuals recognized at the city level, and seven honored as “Outstanding Citizens of the Capital” by the city government. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, 112 individuals were awarded the “Good People, Good Deeds” title at the departmental level, and 20 individuals have been nominated for the city-level title.

This prestigious award has a profound impact, motivating over 26,000 healthcare workers in Hanoi to continue working together, overcoming challenges to fulfill their mission of safeguarding public health.