Vietnam Medical Guide: Hospitals, Emergency Numbers & Insurance

Vietnam's medical facilities broadly fall into three tiers. Identify which tier you belong in first, and you'll save a great deal of time and a great deal of wasted money.

Tier one is foreign-invested / international private hospitals: FV Hospital, Vinmec Central Park, Family Medical Practice (FMP) and Raffles Medical in Ho Chi Minh City; Vinmec Times City and Hanoi French Hospital in Hanoi; Vinmec Da Nang and FMP Da Nang in Da Nang. This tier's defining features: English service is standard, and some facilities can also coordinate interpretation in Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean or Russian; 24-hour emergency departments are the norm; the environment is close to developed-country standards; and they hold direct-billing agreements with a list of international insurers. The trade-off is that this is the most expensive of the three tiers — a GP consultation runs about VND 800,000–2,000,000 (roughly USD 30–80), a specialist consultation about USD 50–150, a single emergency visit about USD 150–400, and you'll often be asked for a deposit at the door. Who it suits: emergencies, trauma, cases needing surgery or inpatient admission, anyone who needs to communicate in English or Chinese, and travellers holding travel insurance.

Tier two is domestic private hospitals, such as the Hoan My (Hoàn Mỹ — the name means "flawless") group, Hong Ngoc, Tam Anh and Thu Cuc. Prices run roughly 50–70% of the international tier. Some campuses offer English and even Chinese or Japanese service, but the depth varies and has to be confirmed one hospital at a time. This tier suits moderate illness and cases that need inpatient observation without demanding international standards.

Tier three is public hospitals: Cho Ray Hospital and the University Medical Center of Ho Chi Minh City in HCMC, Bach Mai and Viet Duc in Hanoi. Prices are the lowest and specialist capability the strongest, especially for complex, severe and trauma cases — when a private hospital can't handle something, this is ultimately where it transfers you. But two practical realities you must know. First, crowding: popular departments hand out queue numbers from three or four in the morning, and waiting hours in the emergency department is normal. Second, language: public hospitals operate essentially in Vietnamese only, English support is very limited, and foreign patients generally don't receive the local subsidised rate, so charges may be noticeably higher than for a Vietnamese patient.

A one-line rule of thumb: minor and routine problems go to a private or international outpatient clinic; severe illness, trauma or loss of consciousness goes straight to an international hospital with a 24-hour emergency department; and public hospitals are for the situation where all three of these conditions hold at once — tight budget, a Vietnamese speaker accompanying you, and a non-emergency.

Cost references (all ranges, for guidance only, not quotes, and Vietnamese medical prices have been revised several times in recent years, so the newer the figure the better): international outpatient GP visit USD 30–80; specialist USD 50–150; private inpatient room about VND 6,000,000–20,000,000 per night; appendicitis with a three-day stay about USD 3,000–6,000; a normal delivery about USD 2,500–6,000; major surgery from about USD 15,000 to more than USD 60,000. For comparison, in the Ministry of Health's revised price list for central hospitals under local health insurance, a standard outpatient registration fee is about VND 52,600, an emergency resuscitation bed about VND 581,000 per day and an ICU bed about VND 965,200 per day — but note these are example prices for a tier-1 central hospital (special-class hospitals such as Viet Duc or 108 Military are higher for the same items, with ICU around VND 1,058,000), and in any case they are the prices Vietnamese patients pay; foreigners are usually billed on a different schedule.

One more rule that's easy to overlook: foreign patients are routinely charged more than local patients, so before any elective treatment, insist on a written, itemised quote first and decide from there whether to go ahead.

Everything listed below appears repeatedly in public sources and in the medical-network lists of various embassies and insurance institutions, and explicitly offers foreign-language service. It is not a ranking and not a recommendation — it exists to narrow your search. One thing to know up front: Vietnam abolished district-level administration on 1 July 2025 — not a partial merger, but the scrapping of district/county units nationwide — and moved to a two-tier province–ward/commune system, consolidating 63 provinces into 34 and cutting the ward/commune level by roughly 60–70%. The old "District" names still heard in conversation no longer exist in official usage, so when you navigate, search the institution's English name rather than an address.

Ho Chi Minh City offers the widest choice. For international standards, look at FV Hospital (District 7 — a legacy name, see above; a French-Vietnamese joint venture, JCI-accredited, about 220 beds, English and French, with an international patient desk and direct-billing agreements with a number of international insurers; especially strong in oncology, obstetrics and gynaecology, surgery and emergency care). For all-round capability and multiple languages, look at Vinmec Central Park (Binh Thanh; part of the Vinmec healthcare system, JCI-accredited, can arrange interpretation in English, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Arabic, about 25 minutes by car from Tan Son Nhat Airport; there is also the Vinmec Saigon international clinic in District 1). For day-to-day problems at outpatient level, Family Medical Practice's Ho Chi Minh City clinic is in Diamond Plaza, District 1, on a GP, paediatrics, vaccination and 24-hour emergency path — a long-established foreign-owned clinic. Raffles Medical's Ho Chi Minh City clinic relocated in 2024 and is now at 285B Dien Bien Phu (phone unchanged, 028 3824 0777) — check the official website, because the old District 3 address on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia is out of date — and offers English and Japanese. For public-sector muscle at low cost, Cho Ray is the largest and strongest for complex and trauma cases, but it is crowded and speaks almost only Vietnamese; the University Medical Center of Ho Chi Minh City takes a very large number of foreign and overseas-Vietnamese patients, and you should expect to queue there too.

Hanoi's options are more concentrated. Vinmec Times City, in Hai Ba Trung (a legacy district name), was the first hospital in Vietnam to earn JCI accreditation, with emergency, surgery, cardiology, oncology and obstetrics all present plus English, French, Japanese and Korean coordinators, and is widely regarded as "Hanoi's first choice for severe cases". Hanoi French Hospital, in Dong Da (legacy name), is the oldest of them, with English- and French-speaking staff, a 24-hour emergency department, GP, obstetrics and health screening; the French embassy lists it as a recommended hospital, and it is one of the few international hospitals in the city open 24 hours and offering inpatient beds. Beyond these, both Family Medical Practice and Raffles Medical have clinics in Hanoi suited to outpatient-level problems. On the public side, Bach Mai and Viet Duc are very strong and also appear on several embassies' hospital lists, but English support is limited — bring someone who speaks Vietnamese, or a translation tool.

Da Nang's medical resources are thinner than the other two cities, but there are three sound options. Vinmec Da Nang International Hospital is generally acknowledged as the city's most international general hospital, with English service and emergency, imaging (X-ray, CT, MRI), endoscopy and vaccination all available, about 6 km from the city centre. Family Medical Practice's Da Nang clinic is on Nguyen Van Linh Street in Hai Chau (legacy name), a foreign-owned outpatient clinic with English and Vietnamese, 24-hour emergency response and a separate Japanese-language hotline, well regarded among expatriate families with children. Hoan My Da Nang Hospital opened an international medical centre in 2025 on a "hospital plus hotel" model, explicitly offering English, Chinese and Japanese assistance and working with more than 50 insurance companies — one of the few options in Da Nang where you can communicate directly in Chinese.

If you are in Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Hoi An or Ha Long — cities outside the first tier — remember one rule: they can handle basic treatment, but the moment surgery or intensive care is needed, you will most likely be transferred to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi. Before you set off, confirm whether your insurance covers medical evacuation, and who arranges it — usually the insurer's global assistance centre, not you finding a vehicle yourself.

Learn these three numbers cold first — their division of labour is not what you may be used to.

113 is the police: public order, crime, disputes, reporting traffic accidents, a passport being confiscated. 114 is fire and rescue: fires, collapses, people trapped, water rescues. 115 is ambulance and medical emergency: sudden illness, trauma, poisoning, unconsciousness, severe bleeding. There is also a newer 112 for integrated help in natural disasters, accidents and dangerous situations, which can link police, fire and medical responses together; it has command nodes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

About 115 there are several things you must know in advance, or it will cost you time. First, 115 operators work essentially in Vietnamese only; speaking Chinese or English will very likely fail to convey your address and symptoms. Second, public 115 ambulance capacity is stretched thin and an emergency physician is not guaranteed on board — much of the time its job is to get you to hospital, not to treat you on scene. Third, ambulance service is normally chargeable, priced by distance and the equipment used; don't assume it's free the way it may be at home. Fourth, many private and international hospitals run their own ambulance fleets and can send a vehicle, but that is charged too, and international hospital rates are clearly higher than public ones.

So how do you actually call for one? Here is an executable order of operations.

If you are in a hotel, guesthouse, restaurant or shopping mall, your first move is to find a member of staff and show them the word for emergency — in Vietnamese it is "cấp cứu" (roughly "kap koo"). Having a local make the 115 call for you, or call the hospital, is the fastest way to solve the language problem: they can give the address accurately and explain the situation on your behalf.

If you are on your own, call the 24-hour global assistance number on your travel insurance card first. That line is usually multilingual, and the assistance centre that answers will do three things at once: decide which hospital you should be taken to, contact the hospital to guarantee payment, and arrange an ambulance or medical evacuation. Many policies require you to contact the assistance centre before seeking treatment, and skipping that step can jeopardise your claim — especially anything involving evacuation or inpatient admission.

If the situation is critical and you cannot wait, go straight to the nearest international hospital with a 24-hour emergency department. Do not drive yourself — driving while injured or unwell is extremely dangerous; take a ride-hailing car or have the hotel arrange one. Write the address in Vietnamese on paper or save it on your phone to show the driver.

One more thing worth knowing: the Vietnamese government is phasing in the consolidation of 113, 114 and 115 into a single number, 113, and fitting public and private ambulances with positioning so the nearest vehicle can be dispatched. Until that is fully in place, keep using the three numbers with the division of labour above; if you dial 115 and are redirected to another number, simply follow the instructions you are given.

Handle money and paperwork badly in Vietnam and you will lose real money once you're home. Start with the payment reality: private and international hospitals generally require payment or a deposit up front, emergencies included — an international hospital emergency visit runs about USD 150–400 and usually has to be prepaid; an inpatient deposit is calculated as several days' worth of estimated cost and varies enormously between hospitals, from a few hundred thousand dong to tens of millions. International hospitals take all major credit and debit cards; public hospitals are still mostly cash. So the single most practical insurance policy for a trip to Vietnam is carrying a credit card that works.

Now "direct billing", the most misunderstood part. Direct billing means the hospital settles directly with the insurer and you pay nothing on the spot, or only your own share. It works only when two conditions hold at once: your insurer's assistance arm or third-party administrator (TPA) has a direct-billing agreement with that hospital (FV holds agreements with a number of international insurers, Hoan My with more than 50), and the insurer has issued you a letter of guarantee. Even with both in place, the hospital may still ask for a deposit until the guarantee is confirmed, and direct billing generally excludes preventive items such as health screening and vaccinations. So the right move is: confirm before you travel whether your policy offers direct billing and which hospitals it covers, and the moment you arrive at the hospital give the front desk your policy number and the assistance centre's phone number.

The overwhelming majority of travellers do it the other way round: pay first, claim later. What documents a claim needs varies in wording from insurer to insurer, but the core checklist is highly consistent. Keep the following and you won't miss anything.

Key points for the claim form: don't just keep photos on your phone. On arrival at the hospital, ask for an itemised bill showing every service and its corresponding amount — a single total receipt is the most common reason claims are rejected. For inpatient care, make sure you get the discharge summary when you leave.

Watch the reporting deadline: insurers differ widely here, so read your own policy. To take one example, under some insurers' terms (Liberty TravelCare, for instance) you must report within 30 days of the end of the trip, with payment reduced on a sliding scale: 10% for days 31–90, 20% for days 91–180 and 30% for days 181–365. Other companies (Chubb, AXA, Allianz and others) typically ask for notification within 30 days and documents within 90 or 180 days, and do not apply the same percentages. The practical takeaway is the same either way: even if you are still on the road, report the case number by email or phone first and send the documents later.

Two traps — translation and traffic accidents: for documents that are not in English or Vietnamese, most companies require a translation, so photograph and archive the medical record early and use a proper translation agency. And if it was a motorbike accident, on top of the medical paperwork you must report it to the police and obtain an accident record — otherwise the insurer may refuse or reduce the claim because fault cannot be established. Which is also why, before you get on a motorbike, you should confirm your insurance covers motorbikes, and never ride unlicensed or after drinking.

Let's be clear first: what follows is about "what kind of situation means you should go through the process and see a hospital" — it is not diagnostic criteria and certainly not medication advice. Pharmacies in Vietnam commonly have problems with counterfeit, badly stored and expired medicines, so buying something on a hunch and swallowing it is not advisable; if you genuinely need antibiotics, have a doctor prescribe them.

Vietnam's tight schedules, heat, unfamiliar food and the motorbike as the main means of transport mean the health problems travellers actually run into here are quite concentrated. Essentially they are the four below.

1. Stomach trouble and fever. Travellers' diarrhoea, food poisoning and simple fever are by far the most common. Treat it yourself when it's diarrhoea without blood, you can keep fluids down, there's no high fever, and you're improving within 24–48 hours — rest and oral rehydration salts are usually enough. Go in when there's blood in the stool or vomit, a fever above roughly 39°C that won't come down, an inability to keep any fluid down, signs of dehydration (dizziness on standing, very little urine, a dry mouth), or symptoms that persist beyond two or three days. Children and older travellers should have a lower threshold for going in.

2. Motorbike injuries. Road accidents are the leading cause of serious injury among travellers here, and the pattern is consistent. Treat it yourself when it's a scrape or a bruise, you can move the limb normally, there was no head impact, and you can clean and dress the wound yourself — but do clean it properly, and keep watching for infection in a tropical climate. Go in when there is any head injury with loss of consciousness, vomiting or confusion; a wound that won't stop bleeding or is deep enough to need stitches; a suspected fracture or a joint you cannot bear weight on; or any wound that turns red, swollen, hot or starts discharging. If a traffic accident is involved, get a police record at the same time — you will need it for the claim (see the insurance section).

3. Heat, dehydration and heatstroke. Treat it yourself when you're hot, thirsty and tired but alert and still sweating — get out of the sun, cool down and rehydrate with water plus electrolytes. Go in when the skin is hot and dry with no sweating, body temperature is high, or there is confusion, slurred speech, vomiting, headache or fainting. That is heatstroke, and it is a genuine emergency: call 115 or go straight to the nearest 24-hour emergency department. Watch children and older people especially closely.

4. Insect-borne illness and skin problems. Dengue, Japanese encephalitis and malaria exist in parts of Vietnam, and bites and rashes are common. Treat it yourself when it's ordinary itchy bites, or a minor rash from heat or a new soap — repellent, cool compresses and an antihistamine usually handle it. Go in when a fever appears within one to two weeks of being bitten in a rural or forested area; when there is bleeding from the gums or nose, or a rash of tiny red spots; when a fever comes with severe headache and muscle or joint pain behind the eyes (dengue's signature); or when a skin wound spreads, blisters or comes with a fever. Always tell the doctor where you have been travelling.

None of the above is a diagnosis or a prescribing guide. When in doubt, go in.

Let's put it plainly: VietNight has no medical team of its own in Vietnam, and no hospital, clinic or doctors of our own. We don't provide treatment, we don't diagnose, and we don't sell medicine. What we do is something else — we smooth out the two hurdles, language and process, on your behalf.

Concretely, when you or someone travelling with you needs to see a doctor in Vietnam, we can help you: map out the available facilities by city and by the kind of problem (international hospital / domestic private / public), along with each one's price band, foreign-language capability and typical queuing situation; help connect you with licensed medical institutions in Vietnam, Chinese-language medical interpreters, or local service providers with experience of accompanying patients to appointments; help assemble the document checklist your insurance claim requires, flagging which documents must be originals and which must be obtained the same day; and, where a transfer to another hospital or another city is needed, help you contact the right party to confirm the transfer arrangements.

The boundaries are just as clear: the service is delivered directly by licensed local providers, and fees are paid directly to those providers — we don't collect on their behalf. All medical judgement rests with the doctor, and we are not responsible for treatment outcomes. In a genuinely life-threatening emergency, call 115 first or go straight to the nearest emergency department — don't come and ask us first.

Finally, the single most useful piece of preparation: before you leave, save three things into an offline note on your phone — your insurance assistance number and policy number; the names of the hospitals in the three big cities that your itinerary will pass through (saved in both Vietnamese and English); and the division of labour between 113, 114 and 115. In the few minutes that really matter, something you can pull straight out and use is worth more than any guide.