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Guangzhou State hospital goes private
A major State-owned hospital in the capital of South China's Guangdong Province was purchased on Wednesday by a private conglomerate, indicating a big step the province has taken in medicare system reform. The private company, Beijing-based Yiren Medical Group, bought the Guangzhou Petrochemical Hospital for 15 million yuan (US$1.8 million). The hospital has operated as a State-owned institution for 26 years. The hospital, which used to be managed and run by the Guangzhou Petrochemical Corporation, a major State-owned enterprise, was officially renamed the Guangzhou Yiren Hospital, becoming a non-profit and privately operated hospital. The new Guangzhou Yiren Hospital will have a registered capital of 30 million yuan (US$3.6 million). "The sale of the Petrochemical Hospital is a new test and will be positive for medical reform in Guangdong Province," said Liao Xinbo, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health. It will also help introduce a fair and competitive market among State-owned hospitals and their privately operated, foreign-funded and joint venture counterparts in the prosperous province, Liao told China Daily Thursday. Guangdong Province, which has taken the lead in the country's opening up drive, is planning to take bolder steps in reforming its medical management and operation system, by allowing its hospitals to become shareholding companies, foreign-funded and privately operated institutions, joint ventures, or partly shareholding companies. And more State-owned hospitals are expected to go private or become shareholding and joint venture companies in the near future, Liao said. The reform requires hospitals to further improve their standards of medical treatment and provide improved services, Liao said. "Patients and local residents will surely benefit from the open and fair competition among hospitals in the future," Liao added. The Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health approved the purchase of Yiren Medical Group on September 2. But negotiations for the deal began earlier this year. Yiren Medical Group has decided to invest more than 450 million yuan (US$54.68 million) to upgrade and expand the hospital in the next few years. The first phase of expansion will cost 200 million yuan (US$24 million). It will include the construction of a new 14-storey building for outpatient and inpatient service. And the number of beds will increase from the current 150 to more than 500 after the first phase of the expansion, which is scheduled to be completed in two years. The hospital is also planning to invest more than 70 million yuan (US$8.43 million) to purchase new and advanced medical equipment from abroad later this year. The hospital is expected to become the largest in Guangzhou's Huangpu District. In addition to maintaining its advantages in treating poisonings, burns, wounds from explosion and other emergencies, the hospital will pay special attention to studying, treating and curing cancer, tumours and neurological diseases. To this end, the hospital is currently considering recruiting prestigious doctors and medical experts from around the country to further upgrade its medical treatment capability. The hospital will continue to offer medical services to more than 35,000 staff of the Guangzhou Petrochemical Corporation, their family members and other employees from big State-owned companies located near the hospital. |
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