Three Healthcare Organizations Unite to Serve Qingdao
In order to promote the tiered medical care referral system, under the guidance of the Laoshan Health Bureau, an official signing ceremony was held for Qingdao United Family Hospital, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao), and the Laoshan Community Health Service Center to establish a close-knit medical care conglomerate, which will allow the three medical institutions to complement each other with their respective strengthen, bring greater order to the medical care system, and provide the people of Qingdao with better medical services.
Representatives from each of the three signatories (left to right): Cai Xuemin, Director of Laoshan Community Health Service Center; Yan Chuanzhu, President of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao); and Roberta Lipson, founder of United Family Healthcare and CEO of New Frontier Health.
Based on the “Healthy China” initiative, the medical industry is in a state of reform and innovation. The establishment of this conglomerate is a major step in exploring the model of urban medical conglomerate in China. It is expected to help improve organizational management, operational mechanisms, and incentive mechanisms by creating a three-party community that integrates service, responsibility, and management.
Deputy Party Secretary Zhao Baoling of the Qingdao Health Commission and Deputy District Mayor Zhang Yongyan of the Laoshan District Government gave addresses at the ceremony. Zhang stated that she looked forward to the conglomerate members being able to make better use of their respective merits and cooperate in the areas of technology and resource sharing; continuously innovate on mechanisms, management, and procedure; increase exchanges between each other; create an innovative, close-knit medical care partnership based on the effective and complementary contribution of each member’s technology, resources, and service models; promote the complete and efficient use of medical resources; and form a tiered referral system model in the Qilu-Laoshan region that will benefit the local people and enhance medical care services, all of which will push the Laoshan-region medical care sector to new heights.
Laoshan Deputy District Mayor Zhang Yongyan
Signatories and other VIPs at the ceremony included (from left to right) Carl Wu (Wu Qinan), co-founder and CEO of New Frontier Health; Wang Shaomei, Director of Laoshan Health Bureau; Yan Chuanzhu, President of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao); Zhao Baoling, Deputy Party Secretary of Qingdao Health Commission; Zhang Yongyan, Deputy Mayor of Laoshan District; Roberta Lipson, founder of United Family Healthcare and CEO of New Frontier Health; Gao Haidong, Vice President of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao); and Cai Xuemin, Director of Laoshan Community Health Service Center.
As one of the three members of the conglomerate, Qingdao United Family Hospital is a subsidiary of United Family Healthcare (UFH), which was acquired by New Frontier Health (NFH) in 2019. The two enterprises have many values and visions in common. At the conglomerate signing ceremony, Wu stated that for the past 23 years, UFH has been dedicated to developing its range of medical services and has become a comprehensive medical institution that meets world standards in the areas of prevention, healthcare, treatment, and rehabilitation. He further expressed that it is a great honor to be partnering with Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao) and the Laoshan Community Health Service Center. NFH and UFH are both leaders in China’s private medical care sector and both seek to continuously improve medical services in China. As a comprehensive medical care platform, UFH has a great wealth of experience with its family medicine system, while the two public medical care institutions in the conglomerate have more expert resources and better technology. Thus, the three will jointly operate a tiered referral system and complement each other in the areas of technology, resources, and services, which will allow them to provide patients with safe, effective, convenient, and comfortable medical services.
New Frontier co-founder and CEO Carl Wu
A tiered referral system to properly match service suppliers and consumers has been a major theme of medical care reform in recent years, and the core response has been the formation of medical conglomerates. Once a conglomerate is formed, the common goal is figuring out how to close the gaps in treatment and high-quality medical resources available to people of different socioeconomic levels. Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao) Director Yan Chuanzhu said that this conglomerate will integrate the merits of a large comprehensive-service hospital, a community health service center, and a private hospital; each member will complement the others in the areas of technology, treatment convenience, and in-patient service, which will allow them to handle the various medical conditions and the needs of people from different economic backgrounds. It will allow for homogeneity in medical care technology and close the gaps in medical care equipment available. Qilu Hospital will take this opportunity to ensure that all involved benefit each other and develop together. Promotion and improvement in the areas of technology, personnel training, the establishment of disciplines, and an information network; comprehensive, close-knit cooperation among the members; resource sharing and the cooperative division of labor; propulsion of a tiered referral system; and improvement of the two-way referral framework will allow the conglomerate to provide more convenient medical services of greater quality and efficiency to the people of Laoshan.
Yan Chuanzhu, President of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao)
Through many years of medical care reform in China, the central government has provided favorable policies and created a hopeful environment. With the establishment of the conglomerate, which will couple the expert resources and advanced technology of two public medical care institutions with the outstanding medical service model of the privately run Qingdao United Family Hospital, the people of Qingdao will be provided with more outstanding, reliable medical services for each stage of life.
