Public hospital, Hoan Kiem. Emergency department open 24/7.
Viet Duc University Hospital
Vietnam’s national surgical and trauma hospital, and the closest large hospital to the Old Quarter — where serious road-accident casualties in Hanoi are taken.
Ambulance and medical emergency: 115. Police: 113. Fire and rescue: 114.
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Bệnh viện Hữu nghị Việt Đức
Say “benh vien Viet Duc”. At 40 Trang Thi, the wide street running west from Hoan Kiem Lake — walkable from most Old Quarter hotels.
Its own site uses only the Vietnamese name, which translates as Viet Duc Friendship Hospital; older listings call it the Vietnam–Germany Friendship Hospital.
- TypePublic — Ministry of Health national surgical and trauma hospital
- Address40 Trang Thi, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi 100000
- Emergency, 24/7+84 24 3825 3531
- Switchboard, second line+84 24 3824 8308
- Websitebenhvienvietduc.org
- HoursEmergency department open 24/7
- LanguagesVietnamese; some English among the surgical staff, but do not count on it
- On the mapOpen in Google Maps
More than 110 years old and, in its own words, the country’s leading surgical hospital and a final-line specialist referral centre. Its departments are almost all surgical — general and limb trauma, neurosurgery, hepatobiliary, urological, paediatric and emergency digestive surgery — and its emergency department is open around the clock at 40 Trang Thi, a few minutes west of Hoan Kiem Lake.
What it is known for
Trauma and surgery, and little else — which is exactly why it matters here. Viet Duc describes itself as the country’s leading hospital for surgery and a final-line specialist centre, and after more than 110 years it is where the hardest operations in northern Vietnam are done. The department list reads like an operating schedule: general trauma surgery, upper-limb and sports medicine, lower-limb surgery, two neurosurgical departments with their own neurological intensive care, hepatobiliary, urological and paediatric surgery, and emergency digestive surgery. The emergency department runs 24/7 on +84 24 3825 3531.
Who it suits
Anyone seriously hurt in a road accident, which in Hanoi usually means a motorbike, and anyone who needs major surgery quickly. It is also the nearest large hospital to the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake, so for a visitor staying in the tourist centre it is often both the closest and the right answer at once. It is a public hospital and it is busy and Vietnamese-speaking; for anything that is not surgical or urgent, one of the private hospitals will be a gentler experience.
Cost and insurance
Public prices, so a fraction of what the international hospitals charge, and the surgery you are paying for is as good as Vietnam has. Payment is at the cashier and travel insurers do not direct-bill public hospitals, so plan on paying and claiming afterwards. Ask for the itemised receipt and an English-language operation report before you are discharged — an insurer will want the second one, and it is far harder to obtain once you have left the country. If a transfer abroad is being discussed, get the imaging on a disc as well.
Getting there
At 40 Trang Thi in Hoan Kiem, on the wide street running west from Hoan Kiem Lake — walking distance from most Old Quarter hotels, and a five-minute taxi from the lake itself. Grab, Xanh SM and any street taxi will find it; the hospital occupies most of a city block and is one of the oldest buildings on the street. For a road accident, call 115 and let the ambulance decide the destination rather than putting an injured person on the back of a motorbike.
Details checked against the hospital’s own website, September 2026. Call before a non-urgent visit; in an emergency call 115 or the hospital’s own emergency line above. Travel information, not medical advice.
The other 5 hospitals in Hanoi
- Bach Mai HospitalPublic, about 1,900 beds, 78 Giai Phong Road, south of Hoan Kiem Lake.
- Hanoi French HospitalPrivate, about 170 beds, Off Giai Phong Road, south of Hoan Kiem Lake.
- Hong Ngoc General HospitalPrivate, 55 Yen Ninh, between Truc Bach Lake and West Lake.
- Thu Cuc International General HospitalPrivate, 286 Thuy Khue, on the south shore of West Lake.
- Vinmec Times City International HospitalPrivate, Inside the Times City development on Minh Khai.