Shenzhen will build a special hospital offering acupuncture and massage services on the site of the outpatient department of a hospital near Dongmen, and build a new hospital in Longgang to promote traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the city.

The first outpatient department of Shenzhen TCM Hospital, on Jiefang Road West in Luohu District, will be pulled down, and on its site the city government will build a special hospital offering acupuncture and massage treatment, with an investment of 168 million yuan (US$21.5m).

The new hospital occupying 30,600 square meters will have 200 beds, according to a report submitted by the city's health bureau to China's vice health minister Wang Guoqiang on Sunday.

Wang praised the work of local TCM hospitals and said TCM is a useful tool not only in treating patients but also in prevention of diseases.

Yang Zhuoxin, chief of Shenzhen TCM Hospital, also proposed building a TCM recovery center in the city for cancer and heart patients. "Patients can practice taiji while receiving TCM treatments at the center," he envisioned.

A keen advocate of TCM, Yang said his hospital will set up a wall on which essays about this cultural heritage can be posted, and promote healthy sports like taiji and qigong by hosting competitions.

Shenzhen will build a new TCM hospital in Longgang, and expand the Luohu District TCM Hospital by adding an inpatient department building, the local health authorities said.

TCM is effective, cheap, convenient and less painful in treating certain diseases. A key goal for the health bureau this year is to build more TCM clinics in communities, said Zhang Muxiu, spokesperson of the bureau. The city is also pushing for the legalization of TCM doctors treating patients in drugstores, which is a common practice in neighboring Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the city government promised during the annual session of the Municipal People's Congress last week to take out 220 million yuan from its budget to remedy the problems in public hospitals.

Public information boards set up

Public information boards were set up at two local private hospitals yesterday to give patients an idea of what treatments they are allowed to offer.

"We will try to install the information boards in some 30 private hospitals in the city by the end of May, and push the practice in 90 private medical institutions citywide," said Xu Sihu, vice chief of the local health bureau.

"The board will reassure the patients who seek treatment at private institutions," the official said.

On the boards hanging prominently in the lobbies of Shenzhen Humanity Hospital and Shenzhen Sunshine Hospital, people can see the certificates which authorize the hospitals to offer plastic surgery and prenatal checkups, a notice about irregular advertisements run by seven private hospitals exposed in a recent inspection, and the numbers of complaint hotlines.

Earlier inspections showed that some private hospitals and clinics were offering services that they are not authorized to, running fake advertisements, overcharging patients, and also hiring doctors without adequate training.

Editor: Donald