Expanded network fulfills health needs

Grassroots workers, primary institutions offer basic medical services at doorstep

Ninety percent of Chinese families can reach the nearest clinic in 15 minutes as the network of primary medical institutions has been improved, an official with the National Health Commission said during a news conference on Thursday.

Nie Chunlei, director of the department of primary health at the commission, said China has nearly 980,000 primary medical institutions and more than 4.4 million grassroots health workers by the end of last year, covering all neighborhoods, communities and rural areas nationwide.

"The proportion of primary diagnosis and treatment has remained above 50 percent," Nie said.

Although the volume of outpatient services in medical institutions decreased in the past two years due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the general service capacity of grassroots clinics has been increasing in terms of the number of institutions, hospital beds, primary health staff and practitioners, Nie said.

"Different from hospitals and centers for disease control and prevention, primary health institutions provide both basic medical services and public health services, which need more time and energy," he said, adding that following up patients with chronic diseases or newborns is also part of their duty.

Every year, over a billion healthcare services are provided to vulnerable groups such as patients with hypertension and diabetes, children under 6 years old and elderly people.

Community hospitals are essential parts in catering to people's medication needs. More than 2,600 community hospitals have been built by the end of last year, the commission said.

Wang Yuzhi, a 59-year-old resident from Beijing's Chaoyang district, said most community hospitals in the capital can be reached in 15 minutes and provide medicines for diseases such as high blood pressure or ailments like cold.

"It's really convenient to get some medication in community hospitals. The medical center in my neighborhood can conduct basic inspections such as biochemical tests and medical ultrasound once or twice a year, which is done by doctors from Beijing Chaoyang Hospital," Wang said.

"Many elderly people prefer to go to community hospitals for free registration and high reimbursement rate－90 percent for medication and inspections," she added.

Xu Gangzhu, an official with the Hebei Provincial Health Commission, said village clinics in the province should have no less than 260 kinds of medicines, and 40 percent are required to be mainly used for common diseases including diabetes and hypertension.

Ran Chongqing, head of Xishui county in Guizhou province, said at least 8.3 percent of the general budget should be used to support primary medical and healthcare in the county.

"So far, we have invested a total of 1.8 billion yuan ($267 million) in the construction of rural medical institutions, greatly improving grassroots health services," he said.

To strengthen COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control at the grassroots level, 320,000 public health committees at villages and communities have been built.

"The majority of grassroots medical workers have played an important role in supporting epidemic prevention and control in urban and rural communities," Nie said, adding that they have been providing public health services for quarantined residents.

Zhang Yalan, an official with a community health service center in Beijing's Chaoyang district, said since the onset of the epidemic, the center needs to screen out patients who come for treatment for suspected COVID-19 symptoms, and then transfer them to the fever clinic through a closed loop.

"We are also responsible for nucleic acid tests, health monitoring, quarantine and transfer of residents in the lockdown area, and the epidemiological investigation of close contacts," she said.