Cover Story in Xinmin Weekly: A Shanghai Level-3 Grade-A Hospital’s Suburban Distribution Experiment

Recently, Xinmin Weekly reported the 10th anniversary of the construction and development of our South Branch in Songjiang District. Ten years ago, to respond to the strategic plan of Shanghai Municipal Government to "Transfer Medical Resources to the Suburbs", leaders of Shanghai General Hospital made the decision to establish a new branch in the southwest suburbs. The administrors and the designers intended to solve the problem existed for quite a long time. Since there was no Grade A Tier 3 public hospital in Song Jiang District, it was difficult for residents here to have a better patient experience. The establishment of the new branch aimed to provide patients with better services and improve the overall treatment ability in the surburb. Today, Shanghai General Hospital has gained rich experience in running a hospital in the suburb. The 10 years of development has proved the idea of constructing the south branch not only meets the needs of urban development, but also meets the health administration's requirements for public hospitals in promoting the equilibrium of quality medical resources. Shanghai General Hospital created a model “5+3+1” that can be adopted by other public hospitals who have the same idea to initiate a new branch in the surburbs. The pioneering practice of Shanghai General Hospital's South Branch provides the government with a basis for making important decisions in related fields and the development of the South Branch made us believe that Shanghai General Hospital will have a promising future.