The Shanxi provincial government has altered its
relocation plans. Officials have transferred the land allocated for
a governmental office building in favor of constructing the largest
comprehensive hospital in the province, according to a report from
the China Youth Daily on January 21.
Several years ago the Shanxi government reclaimed the land,
formerly army property. After spending several hundred million
yuan, the government originally planned to construct a new office
building there. Later, the Provincial Acting Governor Meng Xuenong
proposed giving priority to citizens' welfare by utilizing some 19
hectares of this land to build a large, modern hospital.
Consequently, the proposed office building has been cancelled.
Li Junfeng, Director of the Shanxi Health Department, said, "The
province will spend 1 billion yuan on the new hospital, which
shouldn't be luxurious, but must offer comprehensive and modern
services."
According to Li, the health and medical facilities in the
province at present does not meet local demand. The sickbed
utilization rate has reached 137 percent in 13 large medical
organizations in Taiyuan, capital city of the province. Tumors are
found frequently; sickbed utilization rates in relevant hospitals
have reached 200 percent, which means two patients must share one
bed at the same time on average. Around 400,000 newborns are born
each year in Shanxi yet only one children's hospital currently
exists. Many children in need of care have no access to the
hospital.
All the four best hospitals in Shanxi were built half a century
ago and their development remained limited. Among them, the First
and Second Hospitals of Shanxi Medical University have only about
1,000 beds respectively, while the Shanxi People's Hospital has
only 1,200 beds.
Li said that the proposed hospital would be built in three to
five years. It is designed to hold 2,000 beds and employ at least
2,500 staff. Within the coming three years, the provincial Finance
Department will allocate 500 million yuan for construction. And the
provincial Development and Reform Commission will provide another
500 million yuan in loans at a discount.
The present Shanxi provincial government office building is an
important cultural and historical site under protection; the
building formerly served as Yan Xishan's military governance
office. Yan ruled Shanxi Province for almost 40 years from 1911 to
1949. From 1949 onward, the site has been used as the provincial
government office building.
According to Li, part of the provincial government units will be
relocated to the remaining area near the proposed new hospital. The
present office building is scheduled for renovation; it will serve
as a public museum for tourists.
(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing, January 24, 2008)