For the last decade, Mr. Le Dinh Dung has never been far from his phone. As the lead engineer of Tay Nam General Hospital, Dung maintains nearly all the hospital’s medical devices, including the medical oxygen system. Located in a rural, mountainous part of Viet Nam’s Nghe An province, the hospital is the primary healthcare provider for the region, serving approximately 600,000 people. Patients in this region have few options if a system or device is not working, making Dung’s role especially vital.
For many years, Tay Nam General Hospital relied on oxygen cylinders connected to a network of piping to administer oxygen to patients across the facility. But the hospital’s outdated setup could not fully meet patients’ needs, especially when it came to surgical anesthesia and other critical care equipment.
Dr. Le Xuan Hong, the hospital’s director, recalls several difficulties the hospital faced. “The oxygen pressure from the old system was often not enough to run ventilators or anesthesia machines,” he remembers. “The capacity of the oxygen cylinders was low and changing them was very complicated.” Cylinders had to be manually replaced at irregular intervals. This meant Dung was always on call, often coming in to replace cylinders in the middle of the night.
His dedication came at a cost. He rarely took vacations, fearing something might go wrong while he was away. One night, after his son borrowed his phone to play games and accidentally turned it to silent mode, Dung woke up to dozens of missed calls — a memory that still haunts him.
In 2024, the Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC) project, led by FHI 360, installed a U.S. government-funded liquid oxygen system at the hospital. This state-of-the-art system includes a cryogenic tank, oxygen vaporizer, pressure regulating system, new piping into hospital wards and bedside outlets. The new system provides a stable, high-pressure oxygen supply, requires only minimal routine maintenance and eliminates the need for round-the-clock monitoring of oxygen cylinders.
Liquid oxygen is safer and more cost effective than the previous system, and it enables Tay Nam General Hospital to enhance the quality of patient care by using newer and more advanced medical equipment.
“Since the new system was installed, the quality of oxygen has improved significantly,” says Dr. Hong. The hospital now regularly treats individuals in need of ventilation and can better support patients during and after surgery, as well as those with various lung conditions.
For Dung, there is an added benefit: peace of mind. For the first time in years, he can relax after his shift and spend time with his children without obsessively checking his phone. And he can finally sleep through the night without fearing oxygen-related emergencies.
“The difference has been remarkable,” he says. “Since the installation of the liquid oxygen system, my work has become much more flexible.”
Since 2021, the FHI 360-led EpiC project has partnered with Viet Nam’s Ministry of Health to provide 23 medical oxygen systems and equipment to hospitals in 11 provinces. With this support, hospital staff can focus on what is most important: their patients.
“I get to help the patients and make their treatment smoother,” said Mr. Dung.
All photos: Son Nguyen/FHI 360