The Xinrui Hospital opens at Xinwu district in 2019. [Photo/China Daily]

As the three-year action plan for the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta proceeds at full speed, a new pattern for integrated medical development in the region is taking shape, with the Xinrui Hospital in Wuxi playing an important role.

The hospital is located in Xinwu district, Wuxi and opened in March 2019.

It is a nonprofit hospital built to the standards of a third-class medical institution (the highest grade for Chinese hospitals) and was jointly launched by Xinwu district and Ruijin Hospital affiliated with the Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine. It aims to give Wuxi access to Shanghai's high-end medical resources and boost Wuxi-Shanghai medical cooperation.

Xinrui is meant to further the integrated development of healthcare in the Yangtze River Delta region, according to Yuan Jinxiang, Party secretary of the hospital. He said the hospital boasts high-end medical resources, advanced technology and prestigious doctors from Shanghai.

Leaders of the hospital's various clinical departments are all medical experts from Ruijin Hospital. A total of 309 experts from Shanghai have already registered at the Xinwu-based hospital and are carrying out regular diagnosis and treatment work.

The Xinrui Hospital seeks to reform the medical system of the Yangtze River Delta through intelligent medical cooperation and improve the well-being of locals.

According to Yuan, the hospital boasts cutting-edge technologies and facilities, most of which were purchased at the request of experienced experts from Shanghai. It also set up a green channel for patient referral so people diagnosed with intractable diseases who fail to receive proper treatment in Wuxi can be transferred to Shanghai immediately.

In 2019 alone, over 200 patients were transferred to Shanghai via this channel, Yuan said.

The Xinrui Hospital is seeking to increase information connectivity and make a name for itself.

Modern information technology has made remote consultations, teaching activities, and diagnoses possible, providing people in Wuxi with a quality of care that rivals Ruijin Hospital.

Yuan said the hospital's remote diagnosis center had already benefited many patients and enhanced communication between doctors from Shanghai and Wuxi.

Medical care is an important part of the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, Yuan said. "We began integrating the medical field before the national strategy was announced, and we have benefited substantially as a result.

"The local government has been very helpful, offering financial support and preferential policies, improving transportation and giving us publicity."

There are currently 27 clinical and medical technical departments and 39 specialized disease clinics in the outpatient section of the hospital, and 15 departments have also been set up in the inpatient section.

Our hospital wants to focus on the best disciplines of Ruijin Hospital and provide the strongest service in Wuxi.

For example, endocrinology and hematology rank first and second in the country, and a nephropathy center drawing on Shanghai's expertise will also be established in Wuxi this year, Yuan said.

"We hope to create a medical center for the entire Yangtze River Delta, connect medical institutions in Wuxi, and provide better medical services for locals."

As one of China's most economically active, open, and innovative regions, the Yangtze River Delta region is an important part of the country's modernization and opening-up.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued an outline for the integrated development of the region on Dec 1, 2019.