Dialysis at Your Doorstep
Sixty-four-year-old Hu Detian has relied on life-saving hemodialysis at his local hospital in Yanzihe Town, Anhui Province, for the last three years. What once meant costly trips to city hospitals with lower reimbursement rates is now a short ride, saving him thousands in travel and rent.
Piloting County-Level Medical Consortia
In 2019 the Chinese mainland launched a pilot to integrate county hospitals with township and village clinics into medical and health consortia. Jinzhai County was among the first. The model set up seven upgraded township sub-centers, each led by a county hospital leader, to triage common diseases locally and refer complex cases upward.
Expert teams – including associate chief physicians and head nurses – rotate through sub-centers. Two-way referrals have cut outpatient and inpatient volume at the county hospital by over 10 percent, while primary-level visits jumped more than 20 percent.
From Pilot to Nationwide Rollout
Now 2,188 counties and districts run medical consortia. Eighty percent have resource-sharing hubs and ninety percent of township clinics can provide pediatric care. By the end of 2027 every resident should reach the nearest institution within 15 minutes.
Since the 2009 reform, primary-level institutions on the Chinese mainland grew from 882,000 to 1.04 million. In April 2025 thirteen central ministries released guidelines to optimize infrastructure, aiming for balanced, accessible care. By 2030 telemedicine and AI services are expected to be widespread.
Boosting Emergency and Critical Care
In Renshou County, Sichuan Province, five specialized emergency centers for chest pain, stroke, trauma, critical maternal and neonatal care are under construction. In 2024 local investment hit 196 million yuan for MRI, CT and angiography machines, sharpening the county’s emergency response.
Shaping the Future of Grassroots Care
China’s county-level consortia show how data-driven reforms can transform health care at scale. As these efforts expand, millions of residents across the Chinese mainland will enjoy more accessible, high-quality services right where they live.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
