Hu Yanmeng, the newly appointed director of the county hospital and head of the assistance team, said, "It is not enough to send medical experts. We need to comprehensively improve the hospital's medical services, so we also brought management personnel."

Among the 13 people on the team are a director, an accountant and specialists in the medical, nursing, outpatient and logistics departments. Seven administrative staff members and six doctors were dispatched to different departments.

"Seven administrators will be replaced by new members after a year. It's six months for doctors," Hu said.

At the same time, the two hospitals signed an agreement covering specialists in other fields of medicine, including gynecology, pathology and neurosurgery, which makes it possible for other specialists from Urumqi to visit local patients if needed.

To help attract medical talent to an underfunded hospital in a rural area, the team made a priority of retaining the original staff and improving their medical capabilities.

A review of the program said that after the team took over, the hospital reformed its performance appraisal system and gradually improved the salaries of doctors, nurses and administrative staff. The pay increases were significant.

"In addition to treating patients, doctors from Urumqi need to train local doctors to ensure the people in Pishan county will continue to get better medical care after they leave," Hu said.

Doctors from the team taught local doctors, and the county hospital invited other experts from Urumqi to give medical lectures every month.

"I have done more than 50 surgeries since I came," Akbar said. "In addition, I have trained two local doctors who I believe will be able to perform neurosurgical operations independently soon. More patients like Awanisa will benefit from it."

Medical facilities in other impoverished counties in China are also improving.

According to the National Health Commission, more than 60,000 medical workers from top hospitals were sent to hospitals in impoverished regions last year to improve their management and medical treatment.

Commission figures show that 963 top hospitals have teamed up with 1,180 hospitals in 834 impoverished counties since 2016, enabling them to provide better medical service to residents.

"Only a few patients came to the county hospital before, but after nearly a year of effort, the residents gradually regained their trust," Hu said. "I hope more patients in poverty-stricken counties can get access to better medical services at their local hospitals."