The Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College was founded in 1974 and is a unit directly under the Health Commission of Sichuan Provincial. After fifty years of development, it has become a large national Grade A tertiary hospital that integrates medical treatment, teaching, and research, with its comprehensive strength ranking among the top in Sichuan Province. The hospital spans 236 mu (1 mu ≈ 666.67 m2), employs over 4,100 staff, and has 44 clinical subjects at the third and fourth levels, as well as 12 medical laboratories. It is comprised of two campuses: the Maoyuan South Road Comprehensive Campus and the Wenhua Road Women and Children’s Campus. The Comprehensive Campus is approved to accommodate 2,500 beds, while the Women and Children’s Campus is designed to accommodate 600 beds. In 2023, the hospital’s outpatient and emergency departments received a total of 2.31 million patient visits, with 133,000 patients discharged. The medical services provided by the hospital have reached a population of over 33 million in the surrounding areas, and its annual medical service volume ranks first among the five cities in Northeastern Sichuan.
In January 2024, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China published the performance assessment results of the national tertiary public hospitals in 2022. Among the 1,415 tertiary hospitals that participated in the performance assessment, the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College achieved an impressive score of 850.75 points, an increase of 59.95 points compared to 2021. As a result, it received an A+ grade and ranked third in Sichuan Province. The hospital is ranked 108th among national tertiary hospitals, which is an improvement of three positions compared to 2021. Additionally, it is ranked 72nd nationwide in terms of Case Mix Index (CMI), which is an improvement of one position compared to 2021. The hospital has ranked in the top 10% of national tertiary hospitals and achieved an A+ grade for two consecutive years. In January 2024, the hospital was designated as the Medical Center of Sichuan Province. This honor recognizes the hospital’s comprehensive strength and regional influence in the health care field of Sichuan Province, and also signifies our remarkable achievements in medical services, research innovation, and talent development.
In 2018, the hospital was chosen to participate in the project approved by the National Development and Reform Commission which aimed at improving hospitals’ diagnosis and treatment of difficult and complicated diseases. The hospital received a government allocation of CNY 150 million specifically designated for improving its diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for cerebrovascular diseases. In 2021, the hospital was selected for the project approved by the National Development and Reform Commission to enhance hospitals’ medical service capabilities. For this purpose, the hospital received a central government allocation of CNY 250 million earmarked for improving its infrastructure, upgrading its medical equipment, and enhancing its remote diagnosis and treatment capabilities. In December 2021, the hospital was selected by the People’s Government of Sichuan Province to participate in the national project to build itself a regional medical center in Sichuan Province. Through participation in multiple major projects, the hospital aims to establish itself as a high-quality medical technology innovation center, a high-level medical service demonstration center, a high-level health professionals training center, and a high-standard research and innovation-driven center within Sichuan Province.
In October 2022, the hospital was recognized by the China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases as a Sub-Center of the China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases. In December 2022, the hospital was jointly recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Health Commission, the Logistic Support Department of the Central Military Commission, and the National Medical Products Administration as the Core Unit of the National Clinical Research Center for Interventional Medicine. In 2023, the hospital was designated as the Regional Center of the National Clinical Research Center for Interventional Medicine in Northeastern Sichuan, as well as the Regional Center of the National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases in Northeastern Sichuan. Additionally, the Clinical Research Center for Digestive Diseases project at the hospital has been approved and is now one of the third batch of clinical research centers in Sichuan Province.
The hospital has 4 national-level key clinical specialties, 3 sub-centers of national clinical research centers, 8 provincial-level key clinical specialties, 6 municipal-level key clinical specialties, and 2 provincial-level key laboratories (clinical research centers). In addition, it has established the provincial postdoctoral innovation practice base and has 23 key medical subjects at the provincial level and 25 medical quality control sub-centers/centers at the provincial and municipal levels. The hospital has 18 experts who have made outstanding contributions at the national and provincial levels. Additionally, there are 7 employees who receive special government allowances, 79 academic and technical leaders at the provincial and departmental levels, over 140 reserve talents for academic and technical leadership positions at the provincial and departmental levels, as well as more than 200 employees with doctoral degrees and over 900 employees with master’s degrees. In recent years, the hospital’s Integrative Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Coloproctology, Nephrology, Medical Imaging, and General Surgery have successively been designated as national key clinical specialties and national key clinical specialties (provincial projects), and included in the national key clinical specialty construction projects. The hospital’s eight specialties, including Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Cardiovascular Surgery, Oncology, Anesthesiology, General Surgery, Cardiovascular Medicine, Intensive Care Medicine, and Neurosurgery, have successfully been included in the projects of key clinical specialty construction in Sichuan Province. The hospital’s Pain Medicine, General Medicine, Rehabilitation Medicine, and Geriatrics have been approved as the key clinical specialties in Nanchong City.
The hospital has put into operation the Interventional Medicine Center with a hybrid operating room, equipped with the only fourth-generation Da Vinci surgical robot in Northeastern Sichuan, medical cyclotrons, medical linear accelerators, and other advanced medical equipment and devices such as PET/CT. With its high-level research platform, professional team, and advanced facilities, the hospital has implemented high-tech diagnostic and therapeutic projects. It has taken the lead in China in the application of cutting-edge medical technologies in various fields, including assisted reproductive technology (AIH), laparoscopic radical surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), MRI-guided interventions, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, laparoscopic vascular reconstruction pancreaticoduodenectomy, excision of intracranial large arteriovenous malformations, spinal cord tumor resection, deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson’s disease, endovascular aortic repair, and tumor ablation therapy, making significant contributions to medical innovation in Northeastern Sichuan where there were previously gaps in these medical fields.
In recent years, the hospital has undertaken over 1,000 research projects at various levels and obtained 29 national-level research projects, including 21 projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The hospital has published over 1,500 papers in core journals and more than 560 papers in SCI-indexed journals. It has won 10 Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards, 2 Chinese Medical Science and Technology Awards, 1 Huaxia Medical Science and Technology Award, and 1 Military Science and Technology Progress Award. The hospital has 5 subjects nominated as the renowned specialties in Southwestern China in the China Hospital Specialty Reputation Rankings released by the Hospital Management Research Institute of Fudan University and 4 subjects listed in the 2021 China Hospital Science and Technology Evaluation Metrics Ranking released by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The hospital ranked 4th nationwide and 2nd in Southwestern China in the 2021 China Prefecture-level Hospital Ranking published by the Yeecin Internet Medical Standard Committee. It had 23 subjects listed among the top in China, and its Clinical Medicine ranked among the top 1% globally in the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) discipline ranking.
Zhao Yuliang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, established the first academician workstation in the hospital, which was approved as a municipal academician workstation in Nanchong in 2020 and applied to become a provincial-level academician (expert) workstation in 2021. The hospital has signed an agreement with Dong Jiahong (academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering) to jointly establish the Clinical Surgery Digital Medical Center and the Digital Operating Room Demonstration Model and Center at the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College. Additionally, it has signed a cooperation agreement with researcher Gu Zhanjun from the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences for the nano-drug institutionalization project launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Through close collaboration with various institutions, the hospital is creating a new model of integration among enterprises, universities and research institutions, which aims to promote the distribution of high-tech industries in the local area.
As an affiliated hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, the hospital provided theoretical course teaching for students throughout the year, totaling 21,614 class hours. Additionally, students completed over 10,000 practicum hours in the hospital. The Clinical Medicine and Optometry programs at the hospital have been included in the National First-class Specialty Directory. The hospital is proactively positioning itself around the new connotations of medical development and pre-emptively lays the groundwork for talent cultivation in the integration of prevention and treatment as well as the convergence of medical and engineering disciplines. To accomplish this goal, the hospital will further enhance the construction of the National Practicing Physician Qualification Clinical Skills Examination Base, and aims to establish a model center for experimental teaching in Sichuan Province. Specifically, the plan will cover the functional layout of the Clinical Skills Center, Experimental Teaching Building, General Medicine Building, and Science and Education Center. In addition, efforts will be made to establish an integrated platform for training and assessment that integrates undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate education, continuing medical education, and medical practitioner examination.
In order to transform itself into a smart hospital, the hospital will leverage modern network technologies such as cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things, 5G, and artificial intelligence to construct a smart hospital information system that prioritizes patients, with hospital management as the main focus, electronic medical records as the core, integrated platforms as channels, data centers as support, and Internet hospital as its additional development target. Once established, this modernized system can provide intelligent and convenient medical services for the public. It will serve as a template for smart healthcare that enhances the quality and efficiency of medical services and promotes precision and standardized management of healthcare system. In addition, it will provide regional information services to regional medical centers in Sichuan Province and support the establishment of geriatrics, palliative medicine, rehabilitation medicine, and mental health centers by hospitals and grassroots medical institutions. Furthermore, the system will help channel the high-quality medical resources to local communities, ultimately achieving universal access of high-quality medical services by the whole people. The hospital has received several honors and accomplishments in recent years. In 2018, it was recognized as a Demonstration Unit for Smart Healthcare Services in Sichuan Province. In 2019, it passed the Application Level Grading Evaluation of Electronic Medical Record (level 4). In 2020, it passed the Grading Evaluation of Maturity for Medical and Health Information Interoperability and Standardization (grade 4A). In 2023, the hospital passed the evaluation of the Three-Star Smart Hospital in Sichuan Province and the national grading evaluation of electronic medical record application (level 5).
As a provincial-level designated treatment hospital, we dispatched two medical teams, totaling 30 members, to support epidemic prevention and control efforts in Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our medical teams successfully treated 330 patients in Hubei Province during the fight against the pandemic. Additionally, the hospital dispatched two laboratory physicians to Beijing to carry out nucleic acid testing works. During the epidemic prevention and control, the hospital promptly established designated backup hospitals, negative pressure isolation wards, and standardized fever outpatient clinics. As a result, it provided patients with treatment facilities that adhered to hospital infection protocols in the shortest possible time, making outstanding contributions to regional epidemic prevention and control efforts. The hospital has received recognition for its exceptional contributions, including being named the Advanced Collective in the Fight Against COVID-19 in Sichuan Province and the Advanced Grassroots Party Organization in Sichuan Province. In addition, the medical and nursing staff of the hospital has received numerous individual honors, such as Advanced Individual in the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 and Medical Treatment in the National Health System, Advanced Individual in the Fight Against COVID-19 in Sichuan Province, Outstanding Communist Party Member in Sichuan Province, and Advanced Worker in Sichuan Province.
The hospital actively responds to the rural revitalization strategy implemented by Sichuan Province in Zhuoyi Village and Erong Village in Nanduo Township, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Additionally, it strongly supports the AIDS prevention and control efforts in Meigu County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. In response, the hospital has dispatched three first secretaries stationed in villages, four village-based officials, and over 300 targeted support personnel to carry out tasks in these areas. The hospital is fully committed to creating and implementing the “North Sichuan Medical College Model”, which integrates party building, health assurance, industrial support, and education as the foundation for rural revitalization and AIDS prevention efforts. For three years in a row, the hospital has received the highest rating in the assessment under the village assistance program implemented by the Health Commission of Sichuan Province. In addition, the hospital has provided targeted support to several hospitals in Sichuan Province, successfully assisting three of them in upgrading from county-level or municipal-level hospitals to grade-A tertiary or secondary hospitals.
In addition, the hospital has been assisting competent authorities in implementing Sichuan Province’s foreign medical aid programs. Thirteen medical personnel have been sent to provide medical assistance in countries such as Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and Nauru. The medical personnel dispatched by the hospital have been entrusted with a great trust and heavy responsibilities by the Party and the country. Adhering to the medical professional spirit of compassion, philanthropy, courage, and commitment, they have embodied the spirit of Chinese medical teams, practicing the principles of fearlessness, dedication, life-saving, and boundless compassion. With outstanding contributions, the hospital and its employees have received numerous honors and titles, including National Advanced Collective in Foreign Medical Aid Program, Advanced Collective in Sichuan Province for Sending Teams in Foreign Medical Aid Program, Advanced Foreign Medical Aid Team in Sichuan Province, and Advanced Individual in Sichuan Province for Foreign Medical Aid Efforts.