The first private general clinic, named An Binh
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. 26 years ago, a doctor who was head of the Diagnostic Imaging Department at a major hospital in Ho Chi Minh City decided to start his own business at the age of 40. Even though he held a stable position and was a key cadre of the city's medical sector, Dr. Dao Canh Tuat still chose to "go out on his own," choosing a difficult, thorny path, even knowing that the road ahead would never be a "bed of roses."
Everything happens for a reason. That young man from Nghe An, Dao Canh Tuat, enlisted in the army at the age of 18, and was trained for three months as a medical corpsman. On the battlefield, always harsh, the line between life and death was razor-thin. He often witnessed the loss and sacrifice of his comrades, partly due to a lack of medicine and medical equipment, and partly due to his own inexperience, having received only brief, hasty training that left him unable to do much for the wounded and sick. It was this very anguish that strengthened his resolve: after leaving the army, he would study medicine and become a skilled doctor to save lives.
Unfortunately, he was seriously wounded on the battlefield and was brought back to Vietnam for treatment, spending more than six months at Hospital 175. More than ever, his desire to become a doctor drove him forward with great determination. He devoted all his mind and time, enduring pain, to study on his own for the medical school entrance exam, and he overcame himself through sheer soldierly willpower. In the end, he was admitted to Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, just as he had hoped.
After graduating, he went to work at hospitals such as Hospital 115, Cho Ray Hospital, and the Post Office Hospital. But with a heart devoted to saving and helping people, he realized that simply being a doctor or manager within the public hospital system would never let him do as much as he wished.
As one of the key cadres being trained for management positions, he felt that this was not his dream or life's calling. For the spirit of a soldier of Uncle Ho was not just to live for oneself, but to multiply the help given to others and share in their hardships. Partly because the blood of a native of Nghe An always ran in him, he constantly sought ways to help his loved ones and those facing misfortune due to illness.
Dao Canh Tuat shared: "If I had simply taken the smooth, predetermined path, it would have been too easy. I wanted to contribute more, to sacrifice more, in order to help more people — that is my true destination."
With the nature and willpower of a soldier, he always believed that his own breakthrough would surely bring many benefits to society, because he believed that behind the beautiful words of "helping people" must lie real help — something that brings real value to the community. These beliefs constantly drove him to think about how to strike out on his own, to build hospitals of his own that could help thousands, millions of people out there access simple, low-hassle, high-quality healthcare.
Ignoring all the warnings and doubts of others, he and his wife sold off all the assets they had accumulated over decades of work. In 1998, he decided to choose Binh Duong as the first market to break into and build his enterprise. This market was right next to Ho Chi Minh City, and was a province newly split off from Song Be Province, with open policies to attract FDI capital, talent, and labor.
It was a locality with many industrial parks and export processing zones and a large workforce, but its healthcare infrastructure developed very slowly and could not meet the community's medical needs. At the time, the whole province had only one provincial-level hospital and district-level medical centers. Patients who needed care all had to travel to Ho Chi Minh City for treatment, which both burdened Ho Chi Minh City and left a huge, untapped market share.
At the beginning of 1998, the health sector had not yet issued any legal framework for the private healthcare system; all documents from the Ministry of Health referred only to public healthcare, with no mention of private healthcare. Partly because legal policies did not address private healthcare, and partly out of fear of the risks of leaving state employment to go private, no one dared to boldly invest in a private hospital while the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment had not yet been enacted (this law was issued at the end of 2009).
He chose his first location to open a general clinic in Di An District, named An Binh General Clinic, facing countless difficulties: no finance, no legal framework, and no human resources.
Fortunately, the leaders of Binh Duong at that time "broke the rules" in recognition of his idea and dedication to developing the private healthcare system in Binh Duong, and granted his clinic an operating license as a "general clinic" — one of the first private clinics in the whole country to be licensed.
A professional hospital investor
Then, one obstacle after another was removed, and the healthcare market in Binh Duong turned out to be enormous, with the mid-range segment being the one he pursued. Hospital after hospital was built by him. In 2006, My Phuoc General Hospital in Ben Cat was established with an initial 100 beds, now expanded to 780 beds. It has had a very large impact on people in this area, as they no longer need to go to Ho Chi Minh City for treatment, since skilled doctors from major hospitals such as the University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Cho Ray Hospital come to examine and treat patients there.
In 2011, he divested part of his stake to Becamex to invest in two large hospitals (each with 200 beds) in Thu Dau Mot City and Thuan An District. He persistently built a sustainable, quality brand. By 2016, he sold his remaining stake to the Hoan My Group.
HIU Hospital and the joy of having his children carry on the legacy
His final stop, after a lifetime of building hospital after hospital in Binh Duong, was Ho Chi Minh City, targeting the high-end healthcare segment. HIU Hospital was designed with 300 beds for Phase 1, located in Thu Duc City, with an investment of over VND 2,000 billion.
When asked why he chose this segment, and whether Ho Chi Minh City was truly his final stop, Dr. Dao Canh Tuat shared: Having spent his whole life dedicated to medicine, and to investing in, building, and developing private hospital systems, he is very happy with his choices and decisions. Ho Chi Minh City's healthcare sector is where advanced technology is concentrated and where examination conditions are excellent, so at HIU Hospital, they have invested in many modern devices, including a 1.5 Tesla MRI machine, a 128-slice CT scanner, a digital subtraction angiography machine, robotic navigation systems for brain and spine surgery, and 3D Cam technology for orthopedic surgery.
With the motto of delivering a 5-star service experience to patients, HIU Hospital aims to be a leading model of private medical care in Ho Chi Minh City.
And in the future, many more models like HIU will be built by the next generation. He speaks proudly of his two sons, both doctors — Dao Nguyen and Dao Quoc Thang — a perfect bridge between generations, as both were trained extensively in Australia in medicine as well as management. Master-Doctor Dao Quoc Thang currently serves as Deputy General Director of HIU Hospital, and Dr. Dao Nguyen (Level II Specialist) is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
Once again, the image of a soldier of Uncle Ho shines brightly — an extraordinary spirit and willpower that has created beautiful, humane values in life, and Dr. Dao Canh Tuat is a small star quietly shining in his own way.