Healthcare Legal Consultant Vietnam: Navigating MOH Licensing for Foreign-Owned Hospitals and Clinics

For US hospital groups, private equity firms with healthcare portfolios, and international medical investment funds, Vietnam represents a compelling opportunity. The country’s healthcare infrastructure is modernizing rapidly, demand for quality outpatient and specialist services consistently outpaces supply, and the regulatory environment — while complex — is navigable with expert guidance.

This article, prepared by the healthcare legal consulting team at TTVN Legal, provides a legally grounded roadmap for foreign-owned healthcare facility licensing in Vietnam — from the initial investment vehicle selection through to operational compliance.

Foreign investors establishing healthcare facilities in Vietnam must first select an appropriate legal investment vehicle. The two primary structures are:

• 100% Foreign-Owned Enterprise (FIE):  A wholly foreign-owned company under the Law on Enterprises 2020 and the Law on Investment 2020. This structure allows full foreign ownership and management control. The Enterprise Registration Certificate must specifically list healthcare activity under the permitted business codes.
• Joint Venture with Vietnamese Partner:  A co-investment structure with one or more Vietnamese investors. This can accelerate certain administrative approvals and provides local market knowledge, but introduces governance considerations that must be carefully addressed in the charter and investment agreement.

Critically, the business registration certificate must correctly specify the healthcare business category code. Using a generic consulting or services code is one of the most common and costly mistakes foreign investors make — it invalidates the subsequent MOH operating license application entirely.

Foreign-owned healthcare facilities require two distinct licenses from different authorities:

Stage One: Business Operating License (Enterprise Registration)

Issued by the Department of Planning and Investment. This confirms the legal existence of the enterprise, its ownership structure, and its registered business activities. For healthcare, this must include the specific healthcare business codes under Vietnam’s System of Economic Industries (VSIC).

Stage Two: Healthcare Facility Operating License (Giay phep hoat dong kham benh, chua benh)

Issued by either the Ministry of Health or the relevant provincial Department of Health depending on facility type and scope, per Article 7 of Decree 148/2025/ND-CP. This license authorizes the specific clinical activities the facility may conduct and names the responsible technical director (Nguoi chiu trach nhiem chuyen mon ky thuat).

The healthcare facility operating license application dossier under Decree 96/2023/ND-CP includes:

• Application form per Form 02, Appendix II of Decree 96
• Valid copy of business registration certificate or investment certificate
• Valid copies of practice licenses and professional history records of the technical director and all department heads (unless already available in the national healthcare database)
• Declaration of physical infrastructure, medical equipment inventory, and personnel list per Form 08, Appendix II of Decree 96
• Personnel list with names and license numbers of all registered practitioners per Form 01, Appendix II
• For hospitals: approved charter of organization and operation per Form 03, Appendix II
• Proposed technical services list aligned with the Ministry of Health’s approved technique catalog

Every healthcare facility in Vietnam must designate a Nguoi chiu trach nhiem chuyen mon ky thuat — the person responsible for technical professional standards. This individual bears significant legal accountability and their qualifications are a direct input into the scope of services the facility is permitted to offer.

For foreign-owned facilities, the technical director may be a foreign national, but must hold a valid Vietnamese medical practice license. This means that before an operating license can be issued to the facility, the designated technical director must have completed both the foreign license recognition process and the Vietnamese practice license application — as described in Articles 29 and 30 of the 2023 Law.

Understanding which authority has jurisdiction over your operating license application matters significantly for planning purposes. Under Article 7 of Decree 148/2025/ND-CP:

• Ministry of Health:  issues operating licenses for general hospitals with 300 beds or more; specialist hospitals; facilities in industrial zones or export processing zones; and facilities directly under MOH management
• Provincial Department of Health:  issues operating licenses for all other healthcare facilities, including general polyclinics, specialist clinics, dental clinics, laboratory centers, and smaller hospitals in that province

For US investors establishing clinics in Ho Chi Minh City, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health is the competent authority for most facility types. For Da Nang, it is the Da Nang Department of Health. Filing with the wrong authority introduces delays and requires refiling.

The technical director’s qualifications constrain the facility’s permitted scope of service. Key specialty-specific requirements under Decree 96 include:

• General Polyclinic:  technical director must hold a general practice license covering the clinic’s designated specialties
• Dental Clinic:  technical director must be a physician with dental/maxillofacial practice scope OR a physician with specialty in dental/maxillofacial medicine (Article 47, Clause 2)
• Clinical Nutrition Clinic:  technical director must hold a license with clinical nutrition specialty scope OR a clinical nutrition professional title (Article 48, Clause 2)
• Laboratory/Diagnostic Center:  technical director must be a physician with laboratory medicine specialty OR a healthcare technologist with laboratory medicine scope at bachelor’s degree level or higher (Article 53, Clause 1)

US investors should understand that Vietnamese healthcare facility licensing is not a one-time event. Ongoing compliance obligations include:

• Annual infection control training records for all clinical staff
• Maintenance of radiation dosimetry records for radiation workers (applicable if imaging equipment is operated)
• Renewal of operating license when scope of services changes, when facility relocates, or upon license expiry
• Notification requirements for changes in technical director, addition of new services, or modifications to facility layout
• Compliance with the national healthcare database reporting requirements under the 2023 Law

TTVN Legal provides a complete, end-to-end healthcare legal consulting service for foreign-owned healthcare facilities in Vietnam. Our service encompasses: investment vehicle structuring, business registration, facility pre-approval, staff credential management, MOH/Department of Health operating license applications, and ongoing compliance monitoring.

We serve US clients from our office at 101 Nguyen Van Thu, Tan Dinh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. All client communication is conducted in English. We provide written status updates at every procedural milestone and offer transparent fixed-fee engagement structures so that your legal costs are predictable from Day 1.