How Taikang's Integrated Medical-Care 3.0 Model Enables High-Quality Aging

“No one has offended me; I just feel uneasy inside and can’t hold back my urge to lose my temper!” Aunt Zhang, a 70-year-old woman known for her talkativeness and enthusiasm, was diagnosed with depressive disorder after experiencing a marked change in temperament, triggered by the successive deaths of several friends.

“Every time I accompany my husband to dialysis, the round-trip travel and waiting in line for consultation take several hours. Not only does he suffer, but my physical strength also cannot withstand it.” Aunt Li, 68, often laments each time she accompanies her husband to dialysis, “If only we lived closer to the hospital.”

“While the ongoing push for smart hospital infrastructure is certainly beneficial, it can sometimes be quite unfriendly to us elderly patients.” Faced with the “massive” hospital complex and cumbersome care processes, 72-year-old Grandpa Niu found himself at a loss.

Real-life cases have indirectly highlighted the current dilemmas facing elderly care—loneliness and difficulties in accessing medical services. In summary, the later years of life for older adults in China are marked by a dual challenge encompassing both psychological and health-related issues.

An ideal elderly care life should involve high-quality care for physical health and attentive support for psychological needs. Taikang uses a professional term to describe this ideal state: “integration of medical care and elderly care.”

As early as 2007, Taikang embarked on the practice of integrating medical care with elderly care in the era of longevity.Adopting the “One Community, One Hospital” service model and innovating the “Payment + Service” business model, Taikang has established 43 senior living communities across 36 cities in China (with 24 already in operation), providing high-quality elderly care services to over 16,000 seniors.

In 2023,With the opening of Taikang Community · Suyuan, Taikang’s integrated medical and elderly care strategy has officially entered the 3.0 era.On April 10 this year, VCBeat traveled to Nanjing to experience firsthand the appeal of China’s first flagship integrated medical and elderly care complex featuring a five-in-one model of “medical treatment, education, research, elderly care, and rehabilitation”—Taikang Community·Suyuan plus Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital—which was built by Taikang with an investment of tens of billions of yuan. The visit also highlighted the distinctive features and advantages of Taikong’s Medical-Elderly Care Integration Strategy 3.0.

Su Yuan is bustling—so lively that it makes one forget this is a “senior living community.”

To the left of the Vitality Center, cheers erupt from the three billiard tables with each successful shot, while the voices of sports rehabilitation therapists offering guidance can occasionally be heard from the Sports Health Center. To the right, Grandma Liu is fully immersed in practicing calligraphy with a brush in the Painting and Calligraphy Room, while Grandpa Zhang and his companions are watching a movie in the Audio-Visual Room on the second floor. On one side lies lively physical activity; on the other, quiet cultivation of personal interests. This dynamic interplay between movement and stillness highlights the vitality of Suyuan’s residents.

During a break in the tour, a brief anecdote shared by the guide drew laughter from the group: a butler noticed an elderly resident still practicing calligraphy in the study late at night. When approached, the senior offered a carefree reply, “My assignment is due tomorrow, and I haven’t finished it yet.”

While finding it amusing, one cannot help but marvel at the vitality of Suyuan’s residents. According to staff members,Suyuan has created a three-story vitality center spanning approximately 6,700 square meters, integrating multiple functions including a four-seasons atrium, dining center, cultural and entertainment center, university for the elderly, and wellness and fitness center.As of 2025, Suyuan has cumulatively offered 50 Letai courses, established 15 clubs, and hosted nearly 300 cultural and entertainment events. Notably, in addition to the extensive course offerings, Letai courses have kept pace with emerging trends by introducing classes on cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and DeepSeek.

A diverse array of courses and activities not only enriches residents’ spiritual lives and provides a sense of achievement and self-worth, but also fosters “social connections” among them.

Wu Yushao, former Party Leadership Group member and Deputy Director of the China National Office on Aging, as well as Deputy Dean of the Fudan University Institute of Gerontology, once stated: “Old age is a significant stage in human life, during which individuals can still make contributions, achieve progress, and find happiness. A sense of ‘connectedness’ (social interaction) is a crucial source of well-being for older adults. The vitality centers at Taikang Community encourage seniors to engage in activities and socialize, undoubtedly enhancing their sense of fulfillment and happiness.”

Indeed, the rich and diverse cultural and recreational activities at Taikang Community have enabled elderly residents to embrace “active aging” and “cultural aging,” adding joy and a sense of well-being to their later years. Meanwhile, Taikang is deeply aware that good health is an essential foundation for a high quality of life in old age, and that medical care should not be separated from elderly care services.

Accordingly, Taikang has proposed and implemented the “Integrated Medical and Elderly Care” strategy. As China’s first integrated medical-elderly care complex featuring a five-in-one model of “medical care, education, research, elderly care, and rehabilitation,” and as Taikang’s benchmark project for integrated medical and elderly care in Jiangsu, the Yangtze River Delta, across China, and even worldwide, what are the distinctive features and advantages of the Taikang Xianlin International Medical and Elderly Care Park in terms of integrating medical and elderly care?

As a tangible embodiment of Taikang’s Integrated Medical and Elderly Care 3.0 model, the Taikang Xianlin International Medical and Elderly Care Park demonstrates Taikang’s strength in laying out its medical and elderly care industry across multiple dimensions.

First, the Taikang Xianlin International Medical and Elderly Care Park boasts abundant and highly specialized medical resources. A key component of this park, Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital, is not only Taikang’s first integrated general hospital combining medical care, teaching, and research, but also a Grade III hospital. Previously, most Taikang Community retirement communities were equipped with only Grade II hospitals. This represents the primary upgrade of the Taikang Xianlin International Medical and Elderly Care Park.

Specifically, Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital has planned nearly 1,400 beds across its Phase I and Phase II developments. It has established a disciplinary system comprising key disciplines, sub-specialties, and disease-specific centers. Three major diagnostic and treatment centers—Stroke, Chest Pain, and Trauma—have been built to focus on emergency and critical care. The Health Management Center, Oncology Center, Endoscopy Center, Geriatrics Center, and Women’s and Children’s Center are dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, and health maintenance of common diseases across all age groups. The International Medical Center caters to more diverse and personalized healthcare needs. Currently, the hospital hosts one Jiangsu Provincial Clinical Key Specialty and ten Nanjing Municipal Clinical Key Specialties.

It is worth mentioning that, as an important component of the elderly health and wellness park,Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital fully considers the characteristics of elderly patients who often suffer from multiple comorbidities and need to visit multiple departments to complete their medical consultations. As early as 2022, it established a Geriatrics Center, drew on advanced standards for geriatric emergency care in the United States, and created China’s first geriatric emergency center. By integrating multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment features, it provides one-stop medical services for elderly patients with multiple comorbidities.

Secondly, in addition to the treatment of acute and critical conditions, Taikang Xianlin International Medical and Elderly Care Park, with the support of Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital, has also achieved full-chain, comprehensive health management services.

Chen Dongsheng, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Taikang Insurance Group, stated at the opening ceremony of Phase II of Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital: “In the era of longevity, Taikang aims to integrate fragmented services such as rehabilitation, medical care, elderly care, and hospice care, thereby building a comprehensive elderly care service system covering the entire lifecycle to effectively address the current fragmentation of medical and elderly care services.”

From emergency and critical care to daily health management and rehabilitative nursing, Taikang Community·Suyuan and Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital are weaving a comprehensive and efficient service network.

Taking daily health management as an example, the Health Management Center of Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital provides annual physical examinations for residents of Taikang Community · Suyuan, establishes individual health records, and formulates personalized daily health management plans. Taikang Community · Suyuan is also equipped with a “1+N” multidisciplinary service team, including dietitians and social workers, to safeguard residents’ health from perspectives such as nutrition and mental well-being.

Finally, within Taikang’s integrated medical and elderly care system, exemplified by the Taikang Xianlin International Medical and Elderly Care Park, the convenience of accessing medical services has been significantly enhanced.

According to reports, to facilitate residents’ daily medical care, the infirmary within Taikang Community·Suyuan is operated by Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital. A frontline medical center has been established, and specialist physicians are regularly stationed on-site to provide basic diagnosis and treatment, chronic disease management, and other services to Suyuan residents. Should residents require referral to Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital, they can access the hospital directly through a green channel for medical care, with accompanied consultation services available throughout the entire process. Furthermore, as Taikang Community·Suyuan and Taikang Xianlin Drum Tower Hospital have achieved interoperability of medical data, the medical care process has been streamlined, significantly enhancing the convenience and comfort of healthcare access.

Moreover, to further enhance the convenience of medical access for residents, Taikang Community · Suyuan not only operates scheduled shuttle buses for residents in need but has also specially created a “Scenic Path to Medical Care,” allowing residents to reach the hospital on foot within five minutes via this pathway.

It is worth noting that the physical proximity between Taikang Community·Suyuan and Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital, coupled with the efficient operation of their service network, has helped save critical time in life-saving efforts. For instance, during an interview, Wang Hong, head of Taikang Community·Suyuan, shared two real-life cases: an elderly resident suffering from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases caused by atrial fibrillation went from abnormality detection to the operating room in less than 20 minutes; similarly, an employee who suddenly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage was taken from the moment colleagues witnessed his fall to receiving emergency treatment at the hospital within no more than 20 minutes. Compared with ordinary hospitals, its response to acute and critical conditions is remarkably “rapid.”

Taikang Xianlin International Medical and Elderly Care Park is merely a microcosm of Taikang’s implementation of its integrated medical and elderly care strategy.As Taikang continues to deepen its strategy of integrating medical and elderly care, it has established three innovative models for such integration:The integrated medical and elderly care model represented by Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital + Taikang Community · Suyuan; the intra-city close-knit medical and elderly care integration model represented by Sichuan Taikang Hospital + Taikang Community · Shuyuan; and the regional collaborative medical and elderly care integration model established by five major medical centers—Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital, Taikang Tongji (Wuhan) Hospital, Sichuan Taikang Hospital, Ningbo Taikang Brain Hospital, and Shenzhen Qianhai Taikang International Hospital—in conjunction with Taikang Communities and rehabilitation hospitals located outside their respective cities.

Under the regional integrated medical and elderly care collaborative system, Taikang’s five major medical centers have also deepened their collaboration with rehabilitation hospitals and other facilities equipped at Taikang Communities across China. This initiative has not only established four major integration platforms, including a telemedicine platform and a shared medical technology platform, but also achieved the sharing of high-quality medical expert resources.

Moreover, in the era of Taikang’s Integrated Medical and Elderly Care 3.0, it has launched the “Snowbird Sojourn” service. Residents of Taikang Community across China can travel to other preferred Taikang Community locations for vacation, much like migratory birds, while enjoying access to local medical resources and health services. In other words, if residents from Taikang Communities in other cities stay at Su Garden, they can also benefit from the medical resources and services provided by Taikang Xianlin Gulou Hospital.

Leveraging the “Integrated Medical and Elderly Care Consortium,” the “Intra-City Close-Knit Medical and Elderly Care Integration Model,” and the “Regional Collaborative Medical and Elderly Care Network,” Taikang is able to provide residents of Taikang Community with comprehensive, end-to-end integrated medical and elderly care services. This approach better meets the diverse healthcare and aging-related needs of seniors, empowering them to enjoy a healthier and higher-quality later life.