Hua Hin Hospital Admits Specialist Gaps, Sets 2030 Plan
Hua Hin Hospital says some departments were short of specialists in September after doctors left for training or finished their bonds. Its director sets out who returns when, and what is coming: a radiotherapy building and more beds.
Hua Hin Hospital, the town’s main public hospital, has publicly admitted that some departments ran short of specialist doctors in September. Director Dr Jittarat Techawutiporn also gave dates for when the gaps should close, with full ear, nose and throat cover promised by 2030.
He spoke after posts on social media complained of slow service and too few specialists for the number of daily patients, according to Banmuang and Daily News, both on 29 October. The complaints themselves are not quantified in either report.
Why the doctors left
The hospital gives two main reasons. Some doctors left for further specialist training, and others finished their government service bonds. Orthopaedics lost doctors who went to learn robotic-assisted surgery, which Deputy Director Dr Patcharaporn Maleewet described as a normal step in a doctor’s career.
She put the resignations at 6 of 102 doctors (5.8 percent) in fiscal 2026, which ended in September, and 4 of 96 (4.2 percent) in fiscal 2027, which began in October. The stated causes were returning to home provinces, caring for family and finishing bonds. These are the hospital’s own figures.
Dr Jittarat denied any internal conflict or dispute with the provincial public health office over the departures.
Who comes back, and when
The hospital’s plan, as the two outlets report it, runs as follows.
- This fiscal year: about 17 to 18 doctors return, including 12 specialists and at least five doctors on regional scholarships.
- Next year: seven more.
- Ear, nose and throat: five doctors are in advanced training and return gradually, with full staffing expected by 2030.
- Orthopaedics: the deputy director says specialist cover exists in all areas.
- Meanwhile: independent doctors who want to join can be hired immediately.
The hospital also still sends specialists out to district hospitals. Daily News lists a kidney specialist for Bang Saphan and Pran Buri, plus eye and psychiatric cover.
What patients see in the meantime
Three stopgaps are in place, according to the director. Non-urgent cases are referred to network hospitals. Part-time doctors have been brought in to staff outpatient clinics. General practitioners handle simple, uncomplicated cases.
If you have a long-running condition, the practical point is to ask which clinic days a specialist covers before you travel. The reports do not say which departments are affected now, so that question is worth asking directly.
Radiotherapy and more beds
The bigger local news sits in the building plans. The fiscal 2027 budget includes a radiotherapy building, expected to take a little over a year. Cancer patients in the province currently travel to Ratchaburi or Samut Sakhon for radiation treatment, so a unit in Hua Hin would shorten that trip considerably.
Hua Hin Hospital has been upgraded to a provincial central hospital. Daily News says more than 100 beds will be added, and Banmuang says the longer-term goal is a hospital of more than 500 beds. Neither report gives a budget figure, a completion date for the beds or a current bed count.
What to watch
The promises are all forward-dated: returns in 2027 and 2028, radiotherapy in about a year, full ENT cover in 2030. Whether waiting times improve before then depends on how many of those doctors actually return on schedule.
— End of article —
