THE first medical group in Longgang District was inaugurated Tuesday, integrating the medical resources of three of Longgang’s hospitals and 34 community clinics, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Tuesday.

The medical group is being led by Longgang Central Hospital, while Longgang No. 5 People’s Hospital and Longgang No. 6 People’s Hospital have joined. Currently, the three hospitals have a total of 1,244 beds and the group is planning to increase the number to 4,200.

The group will open seven management centers and six resource sharing centers to facilitate service integration among hospitals. It will also centralize and standardize the management of community clinics and set up an integrated medical service system.

The establishment of the group represents a change of strategy, from “hospital-oriented” to “grassroots-oriented,” by medical service providers, and demonstrates a qualitative leap in the reform of public hospitals in Longgang. (Zhang Yang, Dong Haowu)