On September 26, 2015, the 25th National Meeting for Children’s Hospital Deans took place in Kunming, Yunnan. The meeting was organized by the Children’s Hospital Management Branch of the Chinese Hospital Association and hosted by the Kunming Children’s Hospital which is affiliated to China Resources Healthcare Company Limited (CR Healthcare). About 160 deans and senior executives from more than 60 children’s hospitals across China got together in Kunming to hold discussions about how the Chinese pediatrics will develop under the new circumstance and what new experience they have accumulated, what new issues they have met and what new measures they have taken in their development and management practice. The meeting is of the highest level in the Chinese children’s hospital management field. It is the first time for the meeting to be held in Yunnan.
The major leaders present at the meeting include Mr. Ni Xin, Chairman of the Children’s Hospital Management Branch of the Chinese Hospital Association, Chair of this meeting and Dean of Beijing Children’s Hospital, Ms. Jiao Yahui, Head of the Medical Resources Division, Department of Medical Administration of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Ms. Zhou Hongmei, Head of the Medical Administration Division under the Health and Family Planning Commission of Yunnan Province and Deputy Chair of Yunnan Hospital Association, Mr. Xie Jiahong, Deputy Director of the Health and Family Planning Commission of Kunming Municipality and Director General of Kunming Municipal Hospital Management Bureau, Mr. Li Song, Vice President of Kunming Medical University, and Mr. Guo Yu, Deputy General Manager of CR Healthcare Company Limited.
The three-day meeting was themed on seeking for innovative and diversified development. Many experienced deans and senior executives from children’s hospitals across the country attended the meeting in a bid to discuss about and exchange views around the following topics of expertise like “Situation and Tasks Confronting the Chinese Pediatric Hospitals”, “Construction of Pediatric Hospitals and Improvement of Matching Mechanisms”, “Summary of Experience in Pediatric Development” and “Major Measures and Channels for Pediatricians Team Building”. More than ten outstanding children’s hospital managers delivered excellent speeches at the meeting. Proceeding from the actual status quo of different children’s hospitals, these remarks represent in-depth explorations in the wildly-discussed issues of pediatrics development and those concerning the healthcare undertaking for children. So their practical significance for predicting the development trend of the Chinese children’s hospitals is so great that we couldn’t afford to underestimate. In the words of attendees, this meeting turned out a great occasion where the managerial personnel of children’s hospitals nationwide drew experience, shared what they had achieved in the healthcare reform, and explored how to deepen development and cooperation.
According to the China Health Statistical Yearbook, by 2012, China had 950,297 medical and health institutions in total, among which 23,170 were hospitals. However, so far, the number of children’s hospitals in China has been as low as 92, accounting for about 0.4% of the total hospitals. In his address on behalf of the host, Mr. Zhang Tiesong, Dean of Kunming Children’s Hospital, indicated that his hospital was in a phase of rapid transformation and growth after the joint-stock system reform. With several years’ development, it had made some considerable strides in service quality improvement and information construction. With the joint efforts of the municipal government, CR Healthcare, and its management and staff at different levels, the hospital had undergone a smooth transition amid the reform, bringing the thriving vitality into the new stage. This meeting offered the hospital a precious platform of learning and communication. Valuing this opportunity very much, it learnt from and exchanged views with the renowned experts in running children’s hospitals.
At the meeting, Ms. Jiao Yahui, Head of the Medical Resources Division, Department of Medical Administration under the National Health and Family Planning Commission, delivered a speech titled the Development of Pediatric Service System. Mr. Wang Haitao, Division Head from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College Hospital, gave a speech with the title of Reshaping Hospital Management with Big Data. Mr. Zhang Tiesong, Dean of Kunming Children’s Hospital, shared his view with people in presence by giving an address named Explorations and Practice by Kunming Children’s Hospital for Joint-stock System Reform. The remarks made by those leading experts from different medical institutions all were well received and thought-provoking. Of course, their speeches also brought many facts into the focus of attention at the meeting just as they were at previously similar occasions. Children’s hospitals and medical resources in different regions were distributed so uneven that those at local levels were unable to foster or retain the much needed professionals. Many children with common pediatric diseases cannot be treated at local hospitals.
In the face of various shortcomings and challenges that had been exposed in the Chinese healthcare undertaking for children, all deans and representatives present at the meeting uttered their common voice that the health of children concerns the future of China and the dilemmas holding the pediatrics from development deserve the attention of the Chinese government and society.
