In May 2007, a surgical team from the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, (CHU) a university hospital in Liège, Belgium, conducted an initial mission to Hospital 115 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The team faces a very important challenge: Building upon and expanding surgical cardiac adult services in the public Hospital 115 in Ho Chi Minh City. 

In the past few months the department head, Dr. Dung, and his staff have been developing an independent public body to help the hospital meet Ho Chi Minh City’s need for surgical treatment of heart disease.

From the start, our initial mission allowed us to: appraise the feasibility of this project, assess the priorities for equipment and teaching, and most importantly, to measure the potential level of human resources which this enthusiastic and determined team could provide to the project.

Seven subsequent missions assured our team that investment in the project is sustainable. The purpose of these missions can be summed up concisely: “transfer of skills.” We are hoping to provide education to hospitals in Vietnam so they can provide these services to their patients. 

The first mission was lead by Professor Sakalihasan, a surgeon at CHU Liège. Other team members included: Professor Bernard Lambermont, head of Critical Care; Mrs. Franck, Professor of Nursing at the Haute Ecole André Vésale; and Mrs. Blaffart, Perfusionist at CHU Liège and professor at Ecole de Santé Publique, University of Liège (ULg).

The following seven missions consisted of: Professor Larbuisson and Dr. Hubert from the  Anesthesia department; Professors Defraigne and Grenade; MDs Lavigne and Désiron from the Cardiac Surgery Department; Mr. Lagny, Perfusion Service; and Mrs. Gonda and Viscogliosi, instrumentalists nurses within the Cardiac Surgery Department.

Undoubtedly, the community’s needs are enormous: the city has 10 million inhabitants and the lack of medical infrastructure impedes public education on topics such as: the prevention of illness, the ability to make a diagnosis, and the administration of surgical treatments. This creates problems for the estimated 10,000 potential patients in need of surgical treatment in this megacity alone.

A few private hospitals that provide these services exist within Ho Chi Minh City, however, they are unable to meet the demand of the growing number of patients seeking treatment. In addition, their “private” status leads to high costs for patients, making health care unaffordable for the vast majority of inhabitants.

There is an enthusiasm driving the multidisciplinary missions that comes not only from the diverse medical personnel participating in the missions, but also from the entire CHU institution.

Our Managing Director, Mr. Pol Louis; our Medical Director, Professor Bouffioux and the Nurse Department Director, Mrs. Collinet have all endorsed this project from the onset.

The University of Liège (ULg) also gave accreditation to all missions that meet the philosophy of its Rector, Mr. Bernard Rentier. The rector’s actions have not gone unnoticed.  On October 24^th, 2010, the Belgian newspaper, Le Soir, published an article entitled, “University of Liège in the Center of the World.” The article was written in connection with the acquisition of the European accreditation system, “ECTS.”

Far from the “Ex Cathedra” concept, the combination of charisma, open-mindedness, and professional skills of the CHU team present the key to the successful missions. CHU presents itself as an institution focused on bettering humanity with competence and credibility internationally recognized.

In only seven missions, the project has successfully achieved more than 120 cardiac interventions, while providing Dr. Dung’s team with instructional courses.

Currently, Dr. Dung’s team performs two operations per day, but aims to reach the goal of performing four surgeries a day.

Moreover, thanks to the partnership of the ULg’s industry and the support of CHU, Vietnamese doctors and nurses have been allowed, on two occasions, to stay and learn for three months at the institution.  This allows them to obtain greater benefit from the education and expertise of those in the discipline.

Eventually, doctoral candidates could reap the benefits of a prolonged stay in the institution through Federal grants created for Vietnamese students.