Columbia Asia Clinic

Columbia Asia Clinic - 08 Alexandre de Rhodes, District 1, HCMC

If you ever need to have a health check done (be it for the work permit or for any other reasons), this is the place to go as an expat. I am not snobbish, but my safety and health are not something to make jokes about. Of course I could have gone to a Vietnamese hospital, but I just can't image how I could have made myself understood there and how septic these places are. Probably they are, but the language barrier is a real problem, especially when health is involved.

Columbia Asia Clinic is located at 08 Alexandre de Rhodes St, in District 1 (a very posh location by the way!). The personnel speaks perfect English and are extremely friendly and helpful. And the place is spotless. A typical health check for a work permit in Vietnam consists of: blood tests (HIV), urine analysis, EKG (for those above 40), chest x-ray, medical history, and medical exam. The exam was really detailed and thorough, so I am very happy with this place and I will surely go there again after I receive my health insurance card.

As no health-check for the work-permit is covered by the insurance company, we had to pay 2,000,700 VND per person (more than twice the amount charged by the Vietnamese hospitals, eg:822,000 VND at Cho Ray Hospital: 201B Nguyen Chi Thanh, Ward 12, District 5). Appointments are strongly encouraged (phone: 848 3823 8455). The results are typically ready in 24 hours.