Expert opposes privatisation of key hospitals Nguyen Huy Quang, head of Health Ministry's legal department has opposed moves to privatise key state-run hospitals. Nguyen Huy Quang, head of Health Ministry's legal department According to Quang, privatising general hospitals will help change the relationships between doctors and patients and possibly upgrade services, but the state should keep specialist hospitals as investors will only target buying fashionable or profitable hospitals. Quang also thought key hospitals that play a vital role in the nation’s health such as the Viet-Duc, Bach Mai and Cho Ray hospitals should be maintained in the public sector. According to Quang, those hospitals have been leading in new medical developments and act as examples to hospitals at district levels. "Investment into heart transplants, liver transplants, in vitro fertilization is expensive so I don't think investors will prioritise such vital treatments," he said. He went on to say that the state must invest more into medical facilities at local levels. "Privatisation will be expanded if it goes on smoothly. However, it's better if key hospitals and local medical facilities aren’t included," Quang said. The Central Transport Hospital's initial public offering on the Hanoi Stock Exchange began on October 21. 33 investors participated in the IPO bidding for 11.7 million shares, 2.4 times more than the shares on offer.   Central Transport Hospital 4.95 million shares, 29.5% of the hospitals chartered capital, was sold to one individual investor and one organisation for VND116.8 billion (USD5.2 million), with an average price of VND23,597. In near future, the state will reduce its ownership to 30%. Central Transport Hospital's IPO is the first privatisation of a state-owned hospital. The Central Transport Hospital has been in operation for 60 years. It has 363 beds and provides healthcare services for 500,000 individuals and 11,000 inpatients each year. Tienphong