This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. To mark the occasion, we are publishing a series of reports celebrating the city's achievements in different aspects over the past four decades.
In the early days of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, high-level hospitals and high-end talented workers were scarce, which prompted many Shenzheners to go to Beijing or Guangzhou to see a doctor if they suffered any serious illness.
Forty years later, Shenzhen people no longer need to get out of town in order to seek better medical treatment, thanks to the elevation of medical resources in the city. On the contrary, more out-of-town people choose to come to Shenzhen for medical treatment.
The key to such great change lies in Shenzhen's medical reform, which has now been deemed as a model in China. A quality, efficient and integrated health care system has taken shape in Shenzhen, according to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
To improve the delivery and quality of health care services, the city's health commission has introduced a competition mechanism and shifted the role of the government from a direct supplier of medical services to a service buyer that places people's health at the center.
Meanwhile, the city government and governments at the district level have continued to increase investment to address such problems as insufficient and unevenly distributed medical resources.
From 2010 to 2019, more than 150 billion yuan (US$21.46 billion) had been invested to promote the construction of 115 major health care projects, 80 of which are outside the original Special Economic Zone, which only included Luohu, Futian, Nanshan and Yantian districts.
Additionally, during the period, the number of medical institutions across Shenzhen increased from 1,963 to 4,342, and the number of hospital beds jumped from 21,000 to 51,000. The city now has more than three doctors for every 1,000 people.
Shenzhen has also taken the lead in establishing a citywide multilevel medical insurance system, with the number of insured people exceeding 15 million.
The city has pushed the reform of centralized procurement of drugs and consumables in public hospitals, slashing the markups of both by about 1.5 billion yuan, reducing the burden of patients by about 800 million yuan, and increasing the revenue of hospitals by about 700 million yuan, according to statistics.
To enhance the accessibility of quality and affordable health care services, Shenzhen has made exploration in building a health care system featuring regional medical centers and grassroots medical groups.
According to the plan, Shenzhen will build 23 regional medical centers and 23 grassroots medical groups by 2025.
At present, 13 grassroots medical groups have been set up across the city, with at least one being established in each district. Meanwhile, a total of 15 regional medical centers have been built in Shenzhen.
To promote the construction of high-level hospitals, Shenzhen has introduced 245 high-level medical teams to carry out medical, teaching and scientific research work in the city. Five local hospitals, including Shenzhen People’s Hospital, were rated as high-level hospitals in Guangdong Province.