Doctor Bui Thi Thanh Tam, the Head of the Hoa Tho Tay Medical Station in Cam Le District, Mr. Dau Van Bao, a staff member of the Division of Disease Control, Public Health and Nutrition of the Ngu Hanh Son District Medical Center are among 20 healthcare professionals who were honored with the 2022 Shining White Coat Award for their dedication and commitment to providing outstanding service to patients, as welll as their support for colleagues. Therefore, they have gained the trust and love of their colleagues and patients.

Doctor Bui Thi Thanh Tam (right) examining a female patient at the Hoa Tho Tay Medical Station. Photo: X.D

Dedication to patient care

Bui Thi Thanh Tam has well understood the challenges faced by healthcare professionals since her childhood as both of her parents were health workers. However, Tam still decided to follow in their parents' footsteps and stick with her job till date.

Doctor Bui Thi Thanh Tam was assigned to head the Hoa Tho Dong Medical Station in 2007.

According to Doctor Tam, local residents lived in difficult conditions when she started his job at the Hoa Tho Dong Medical Station. Hence, they paid little attention to their health. However, the focus has been increasing public awareness and offering counselling programmes in order to empower local people with the knowledge to safeguard and manage their own health and seek the care they need.. Till date, Hoa Tho Tay Ward has ranked first among 56 wards and communes in Da Nang with highest number of people with health insurance. The medical station daily receives dozens of people for medical check-ups and treatment.

In the time of COVID-19, Doctor Bui Thi Thanh Tam gave advice to the ward authority and relevant local agencies to set up a steering committee for COVID-19 prevention and control, a community-based COVID-19 prevention team, and a team spraying disinfectant to combat COVID-19. She dedicated herself to directly investigating COVID-19 cases, finding their contacts, and collecting nasal swab samples from them for COVID-19 testing in order to quickly isolate them to prevent the spread of the virus after detecting any new cases regardless of weather conditions and even the time of day or night. Her most unforgettable memory in the time of COVID-19 was overnight search for a man who returned home from Ho Chi Minh City, the hardest-hit locality since the fourth outbreak hit Viet Nam on April 27, 2021 but evaded isolation with the involvement of local authorities, mass organizations, and healthcare workers. After finding him, Doctor Bui Thi Thanh Tam along with other healthcare workers immediately sealed off the residential area where this man lived in order to collect swab samples from more than 500 people here for COVID-19 testing.

“The coronavirus pandemic left its mark on everyone, especially healthcare staff. Despite dangers and challenges faced by our health workers in the time of COVID-19, the love for our work and orders from our heart motivated me and my colleagues to voluntarily join the city’s frontline in the fight against COVID-19 for the sake of people's health," said Doctor Tam.

Doctor Tran Thien Hung, the Director of the Cam Le District Medical Center praised Doctor Bui Thi Thanh Tam for her efforts to fulfill her assigned tasks, her dedication to patient care, and her active support for colleagues. In particular, he applauded her saying that she had done well in the time of COVID-19 to prevent and reduce the spread of infections in local communities.

Dedicated to serving the community

Mr. Dau Van Bao worked at the Division of Disease Control, Public Health and Nutrition of the Ngu Hanh Son District Medical Center after graduation from the Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy in 2015. His participation in the frontline of the city's battle against the virus left some unforgettable memories on him. He actively joined his coworkers to conduct case investigation and contact tracing in a bid to help them access quickly isolation, testing and treatment to stop the spread of the virus. In addition, he got involved in providing surveillance and care for confirmed and suspected patients. Furthermore, he coordinated with the police force to investigate and trace foreign nationals who had entered Viet Nam illegally, as well as send them to designated isolation facilities.

Moreover, Mr. Bao volunteered to take on the task at the checkpoints to further reduce the risk of spread of COVID-19. Besides, he took part in welcoming repatriation flights to bring home Vietnamese citizens from abroad, and supporting them to quarantine at designated hotels. Each his task had its own pressure, but the love for his job and the trust of the people motivated him to strive to fulfill his assigned tasks.

After the COVID-19 pandemic has been basically brought under control in Da Nang, Mr. Bao was busy with investigating, monitoring and controlling infectious disease outbreaks, including dengue fever, along with hand, foot and mouth disease. At the same time, he gave advice to the local authority to launch the search and destroy campaign to kill dengue-carrying mosquitoes and their larvae in high-risk areas in order to control dengue in addition to launching awareness-raising campaigns to urge local residents to take precautions for disease prevention and control. As for non-communicable disease (NCD) control programmes, he gave advice to medical stations to improve the quality of their services, and ensure sufficient medicines and equipment for effective treatment and management of NCDs.

Doctor Nguyen Van Dung, the Deputy Director of the Ngu Hanh Son District Medical Center said that Bao’s enthusiasm and passion for work are truly inspiring. He is a shining example for young people to study and follow, Doctor Dung added.

Reporting by XUAN DUNG - PHI NONG