For Tran Minh Cuong, one feature captured how different Vietnam–Sweden Uong Bi Hospital was: ambulances could drive directly to its fifth-floor emergency department.
As a young engineer at the Uong Bi Coal Power Plant, Cuong watched the hospital take shape in northern Vietnam. In a social media post introducing a Vietnamese-language video, he recalls a building that seemed far ahead of its time.
“When it opened, it felt centuries ahead of other hospitals in Vietnam,” reads the post’s English rendering of his recollection.
Cuong particularly remembers the ambulance access, an unusual design that left a lasting impression on the young engineer.
A partnership built to last
The hospital in Quang Ninh province was built with support from the Swedish government and people. It began operating in 1981, according to its official history.
Its opening followed the start of construction in 1976, a milestone in the healthcare partnership between Sweden and Vietnam.
The account of Cuong’s memories highlights both the hospital’s architecture and its continuing role in regional healthcare and medical training.
ScandAsia has also reported on the hospital’s development of advanced treatments, including organ donation and kidney transplantation.
Fifty years of healthcare cooperation
The historical reflection comes as Sweden and Vietnam prepare to mark 50 years of healthcare cooperation.
Sweden–Vietnam Health Week will take place from 16 to 18 November in Hanoi, Bac Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City. Its programme covers digital health, precision medicine, medical technology and hospital modernisation.
As ScandAsia previously reported, the partnership has expanded from hospital construction to research, technology and professional training.
For Cuong, however, the memory remains a concrete one: a hospital whose design allowed an ambulance to reach emergency care five floors above ground.
Sources: Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi, Vietnam–Sweden Uong Bi Hospital
