Anne Zhang

    zhangy49@gmail.com

    A NEW public hospital that is under construction in Nanshan District is expected to be in operation by the end of next year at the earliest and will have 800 beds and a capacity of 4,000 outpatients.

    Located on Xueyuan Road in University Town, Shenzhen University Affiliated Xuefu Hospital is invested in by Shenzhen Municipal Government and will be managed by Shenzhen University. The hospital has a construction area of 135,000 square meters and the total investment will reach more than 1.1 billion yuan (US$179 million).

    “It will be the largest public hospital in Nanshan District,” said Fu Xiaoyuan, assistant to the dean of the School of Medicine at Shenzhen University.

    In addition to providing medical services to the public, the hospital will act as a teaching and research institute for medical professors and students at Shenzhen University, Fu said.

    The hospital will be another option for expatriate patients in Shenzhen because most of its medical practitioners will be professors or people with a master’s degree or doctorate who are proficient in English.

    In addition, the hospital plans to apply for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and establish cooperation with international insurance companies, Fu said.

    Respiratory and endocrinology illnesses will be the hospital’s specialties, Fu said, adding that Zhong Nanshan, a well-known pulmonologist and an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering who is also the honorary dean of the medical school at Shenzhen University, will organize and lead a team for the respiratory department.

    The construction of the hospital started last year. The outpatient building and the emergency room have been roofed. The hospital is expected to be open for operation by the end of next year or by the middle of 2016 at the latest, Fu said.

    About 1,800 medical workers will be needed when the hospital is fully operational. Given the citywide shortage of medical practitioners, it won’t be easy for Xuefu Hospital to recruit staff.

    The hospital will recruit medical talents from home and abroad, Fu said