The largest hospital in Hanoi, Bach Mai Hospital is famous for having survived American bombings during the Vietnam-American War. This building is one of the most important in the health care system of not just Hanoi, but of the entire country of Vietnam, partly because Bach Mai is a major learning center for the field of medicine. Besides playing host to a more trainees each year than most other hospitals, a lot of vital research on new techniques and procedures is done within the confines of Bach Mai Hospital.
Originally founded in 1911 during French Colonial rule, the facility was updated and partly reconstructed with help from the Government of Japan through the Grant Aid Project. The hospital specializes in internal medicine, but, of course, provides expert service in all fields of medicine. An important piece of Bach Mai History; 2003 saw an outbreak of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, throughout Vietnam. During this crisis, the Bach Mai Hospital served a major role in controlling the outbreak using strict nosocomial infection control, a strategy taught to the hospital by their Japanese benefactors.