First Public Hospital To Be Privatized Emerges In Guangzhou

With the approval of Guangdong province's Health Department, Guangzhou Jixian Medical recently acquired Guangdong Construction Engineering Group's central hospital, which has been suffering great financial losses. This represents the province's first case of a public hospital going private, a realization of the healthcare reform policy that encourages some public hospitals to privatize. However, an anonymous source revealed that the policy, which on the surface treats public and private hospitals equally, actually subjects private institutes to greater barriers in areas such as medical insurance, public subsidies, finance and taxation. Although many of Guangdong's public hospitals show long-term financial losses, they do not seem to be headed toward privatization. An industry observer believes the reluctance is due to objections from hospital staff and high-level officials. (Click here for more - Chinese Language)