Tay Nguyen Eye Hospital (located at 309 Ngo Quyen Street, Tan An Ward, Buon Ma Thuot City) officially opened antigen Covid-19 rapid testing to satisfy the people’s needs in the Province.  

A health worker is taking sample of a resident at Tay Nguyen Eye Hospital for COVID-19 testing

Accordingly, the service price of antigen COVID-19 rapid testing is 145,000VND/ single sample. In case of a group of persons, the price will be 100,000VND/ combined sample.  

According to the hospital, since this service was put into operation, averagely about 100 residents per day have arrived at the hospital for COVID-19 rapid testing. Most of them were drivers, students and employees who needed to go out of the Province for study and work.   

One week after the start of the service, the hospital met the needs of the people inside and outside the Province, which contributed to controlling the pandemic and reducing workload in public health establishments amid the complicated developments of COVID-19.

The reception area for health declaration for those who need the service of rapid COVID-19 testing

Mrs. H’Croa Bya (Dak Nue Commune, Lak District) said that, I came here to get a rapid COVID-19 testing so that I would be allowed to go to the field to harvest my coffee. The health workers here were very enthusiastic. The testing was conducted so quickly, and it did not take me so long to get the result. Also, the cost of the COVID-19 testing was reasonable.  

Holding the COVID-19 test result in hands for a group of his employees who were to work in Dak Nong province, Driver Le Hung in Dak Song District, excitedly said that, I would drive these eight employees from Lak District to Dak Nong Province to harvest coffee. All of them wanted to get rapid COVID-19 testing done here by taking combined samples. It took us about nearly 30 minutes to get the result. The process for the testing was simple with reasonable prices.

In less than 20 minutes, the antigen COVID-19 rapid test result will be available for you to pick up.

Medical Doctor Specialist II Tran Dinh Tuan - Chairman of the Member Council of Tay Nguyen Eye Hospital shared that, although the number of the hospital beds is only 100, the hospital had made a request for permitting the hospital to conduct the antigen rapid COVID-19 testing with low costs in a bid to support patients and local residents. The price of the testing service provided by the hospital is lower than any other private medical establishment in the Province. A resident who wants his/her health screening before receiving medical treatment at the hospital will certainly feel satisfied to get medically examined with such low costs.  

At the beginning of the implementation, the need of antigen rapid testing for COVID-19 was high, especially for those who returned from pandemic-affected areas. Afterward, the number of people who needed this service had increased because of their work outside, including drivers, patients, or those having to go out for private urgent purposes. Consequently, the hospital provided this service with low costs in a bid to improve the health care capacity, to “share” workload with medical units, and to meet the people’s needs during the complicated developments of COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Previously, the hospital had obtained the approval of the Ministry of Health regarding allowing doing antigen rapid COVID-19 testing. After checking and verifying the procedures of implementation steps, and the conditions of the hospital’s equipment and facilities, the Provincial Department of Health confirmed that the hospital had met the full requirements for conducting the rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing.

To keep healthcare workers and patients safe from infections, the hospital arranged a specific area for SARS-CoV-2 testing separated from the medical examination ward and the administrative building. The area for rapid COVID-19 testing was organized in one-way. Healthcare workers were trained on how to take swab samples, and store and carry them. Also, a plan was prepared in a bid to deal with in a case when a patient tests positive for COVID-19 at the hospital, Dr. Tuan said.

With his practical experience of the previous outbreaks of the pandemic, Dr. Tuan said, when executing Government Resolution No. 128 regarding “Safe  and flexible adaptation to and effective control of COVID-19”, the Provincial health sector still hadn’t lifted the regulations of showing negative COVID-19 test certificate issued within 72 hours on those who wanted to enter the Province. When conducting antigen rapid COVID-19 testing, the Health Ministry’s regulations on prevention and control of COVID-19 are strictly followed. The hospital also dispatched its staff and give finance in support of other regions where many positive cases of COVID-19 were found in community. However, the local government should direct the fight against the pandemic with the motto of “Narrow lockdowns to the smallest possible area instead of entire neighborhoods”, which can help ease restrictions on residents’ travel and drive economic recovery in the Province. Besides, much attention should be paid to increasing mass media in a bid to raise people’s awareness on the risk of the spread of the virus because the vaccines they got injected were not long enough to help protect them. Furthermore, much attention should be paid to regular exercise and physical activity and strict compliance with all preventative measures for COVID-19, which will help to bring the pandemic under control.

The Eye Hospital has so far appointed its 10 healthcare workers to conduct the rapid COVID-19 testing for residents in Buon Ma Thuot City. About 100 million VND in medical materials and resources was given to the local government and the people in the Province to combat the pandemic, Dr. Tuan said

Tay Nguyen Eye Hospital is the first hospital in five provinces in Central Highlands that specializes in eyes. In 2015, the hospital was the only one in Central Highlands that applied the method of Laser Excimer (also known as Lasik) to correct refractive errors of the eye.

The hospital has just invested in Exciter EX500, a state-of-the-art technology of America and recognized as the most up to date by FDA. This Lasik system also features a multi-dimensional eye tracker that is able to follow the eye’s smallest movements, making hundreds of tiny adjustments every second.

The EX500 is the only excimer laser in the U.S. to operate at 500Hz, making it the fastest laser available today. The average treatment time with the EX500 laser is around 1.4 seconds per diopter. The precision and accuracy of the EX500 allows it to offer a broader range of treatment.