Yankuang New Horizon General Hospital Officially Unveiled as Affiliated Hospital of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
On October 26, in Zoucheng, Shandong Province, the unveiling ceremony of Yankuang New Journey General Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, was grandly held. Xu Tao, Director of the Bureau of Frontier Science and Education of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academic Vice President of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with Zhang Jimin, Chairman of the Jining Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, unveiled the hospital’s plaque.
Ma Jixiang, Director of the Shandong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Zhang Baishun, Member of the Standing Committee of the Jining Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of the Zoucheng Municipal Party Committee; Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. and Chairman of New Journey Hospital Group; Li Xiyong, Party Secretary and Chairman of Shandong Energy Group; Yue Baode, Deputy Party Secretary and Director of Shandong Energy Group; Han Cunlian, First-Level Researcher of the Jining Municipal Health Commission; Lin Yanglin, Chief Executive Officer of New Journey Hospital Group; and Chen Fengjiao, Chief Administrative Officer of Shandong Energy Group, attended the unveiling ceremony.
Since then, Yankuang New Journey General Hospital has become an affiliated hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and has been incorporated into UCAS’s academic management system. As part of the UCAS community, Yankuang New Journey General Hospital will develop into a regional medical center featuring coordinated advancement in clinical care, education, and research, and will serve as a platform and application base for the translation of UCAS’s scientific and technological achievements.
This listing marks a phased achievement in the collaborative model between New Journey Hospital Group and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, which involves jointly building a large-scale general hospital group through a partnership with a top-tier medical school. It is also regarded as a benchmark for industry-academia-research collaboration in the healthcare sector, an exemplary innovative healthcare model, and a model for state-owned enterprise hospitals.
Yankuang New Journey General Hospital was established in 1972. It is a non-core subsidiary of Shandong Energy Group (formerly “Yankuang Group”) and the only Grade A tertiary hospital in Zoucheng City. The hospital operates two campuses, eight branch hospitals, and nine community health institutions, with a total of nearly 2,500 beds.
In April 2018, New Milestone Hospital Group completed its controlling investment in and restructuring of the hospital, repositioning it and establishing an endogenous three-tier diagnosis and treatment system characterized by resource sharing and coordinated development. In March 2019, the hospital successfully passed the re-accreditation for Grade A Tertiary (San Jia) status. It has since added eight key specialties designated by Jining City, established six major centers including a Stroke Center and a Chest Pain Center, and appointed Academician Yu Jinming of the Chinese Academy of Engineering as the Chief Advisor of the Oncology Center. Both the Stroke Center and the Chest Pain Center have obtained national-level standard certification. The hospital has initiated 141 research projects, published 142 academic papers, and secured 26 patents.
The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) is a premier national institution for scientific research and education, as well as a world-class university with distinct Chinese characteristics. Established in 1978, UCAS was the first graduate school approved by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council. To date, it has cultivated more than 170,000 master’s and doctoral graduates, including approximately one-quarter of all recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in China. The university boasts 282 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, nearly 6,800 doctoral supervisors, and 16 affiliated hospitals. The School of Medicine at UCAS features over 100 renowned medical experts serving as professors, including one member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and 28 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Following its designation as an affiliated hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yankuang New Milestone General Hospital will, with the full support of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, become a first-class international, platform-based, research-oriented hospital in southwestern Shandong Province.
Xu Tao, Director of the Bureau of Frontier Sciences and Education at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Academic Vice President of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), and Academician of CAS, stated, “On behalf of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, I extend our gratitude to the Jining Municipal Government and the Zoucheng Municipal Government for providing UCAS with an excellent platform to serve local communities and contribute to the ‘Healthy China’ initiative. UCAS will work diligently in scientific and technological innovation, talent development, innovation and entrepreneurship, achievement transformation, and public health to support local economic and social development, as well as the advancement of hospitals and local healthcare services. We are fully committed to helping Yankuang New Journey General Hospital become a research-oriented regional medical center, enhancing its medical capabilities through the translation of medical scientific achievements, and establishing it as a model for industry-academia-research collaboration in the healthcare sector.”
Ma Jixiang, Director of the Shandong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated: “Yankuang New Journey General Hospital has actively participated in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. It completed the construction of the centralized medical quarantine facility in Zoucheng City with high quality, successfully identified the only asymptomatic case in the Zoucheng area, and effectively prevented the spread and transmission of the epidemic within Yankuang Group and the Zoucheng region. Following its affiliation as an affiliated hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), Yankuang New Journey General Hospital will leverage UCAS’s support in four key areas: teaching and research in healthcare and wellness, disciplinary development, talent cultivation, and research policies. The two parties will engage in close collaboration in the development of key clinical specialties, talent training, research on new technologies, joint application for research projects, sharing of research facilities, co-construction of laboratories, and translation of scientific achievements.”
Wu Lebin, Chairman of CAS Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. and Chairman of New Journey Hospital Group, stated, “After becoming an affiliated hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), we will carry out the following initiatives in the near future: First, by integrating into the academic management system of UCAS, Yankuang New Journey General Hospital will fully leverage the medical, educational, and research resources of the UCAS platform to actively cultivate academic leaders and key disciplinary professionals within the hospital. We will recommend outstanding medical and nursing staff to participate in UCAS professional title evaluations, academic further education, and training, and implement a ‘dual appointment’ system for chief physicians who meet academic standards, jointly appointed by both UCAS and the hospital. Second, we will collaborate with UCAS on scientific research projects in the big health sector, promoting the translation of UCAS’s advanced technologies and research achievements in this field. By fully utilizing UCAS’s research platforms and channels, we will encourage the hospital to actively apply for national-level research projects and topics. Third, we will establish an Academician Lecture Hall to build an authoritative, cutting-edge, comprehensive, and high-level academic exchange platform, broadening academic horizons, stimulating innovative awareness, and fostering a favorable academic atmosphere. Fourth, leveraging the abundant research resources of UCAS and its institutes, we will construct key laboratories within the hospital to conduct frontier medical scientific research, providing sustained momentum for the hospital’s long-term development. Fifth, we will build a 5G+MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) digital hospital, enabling online-offline integration to share multidisciplinary resources, launching smart healthcare, and promoting the comprehensive development of multiple disciplines within the hospital.”
Li Xiyong, Party Secretary and Chairman of Shandong Energy Group, stated, “Since the reform and restructuring of Yankuang New Journey General Hospital, significant achievements have been made in the integration of campus functions, discipline construction, and institutional mechanism reforms, presenting a thriving landscape. The hospital has successively been honored with the titles of ‘National Top 100 Demonstration Hospitals for Good Ethics, Good Quality, Good Service, and Public Satisfaction,’ ‘China’s Top Ten Excellent Enterprise Hospitals,’ and ‘National Integrity Demonstration Hospital.’ This unveiling ceremony is a milestone event in the history of Yankuang New Journey General Hospital, marking that the cooperation between Yankuang New Journey General Hospital and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences will enter a new stage characterized by closer ties and higher standards, inevitably ushering in a new chapter of deep integration and mutual benefit.”
Zhang Chuanjun, President of Yankuang New Journey General Hospital, stated, “The hospital will leverage the outstanding talent advantages of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) to strengthen its workforce development; rely on its professional strengths to enhance research capabilities; and capitalize on the benefits of university-hospital collaboration to pioneer new approaches in healthcare personnel training and technological innovation. We remain committed to advancing the development of healthcare services in the eastern region of Jining, focusing on improving the quality and standards of medical care, establishing a sound, high-quality, and efficient healthcare service system, and better meeting the public’s demand for premium medical services.”
In July 2019, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Science Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “CAS Holdings”), and New Milestone Hospital Group announced a joint initiative to explore new models for integrating medical education, research, and clinical practice, aiming to establish a benchmark for industry-academia-research collaboration in the healthcare sector.
During future collaborations, all parties will jointly conduct research projects in the big health sector, facilitating the translation and application of advanced technologies and scientific achievements by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and CAS Holdings in this field. New Journey Hospital Group will provide a practical platform and application base for the translation of scientific achievements from UCAS and CAS Holdings, offering commercial solutions for their industrialization.
New Century Healthcare Group is the big health industry platform under CAS Holdings. It serves as a practical platform and application base for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements from CAS Holdings and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). As one of the largest comprehensive hospital groups in China, it holds controlling interests in hospitals with a total of over 10,000 beds. The three parties will jointly support tertiary Grade A hospitals and tertiary hospitals under New Century Healthcare Group in becoming affiliated hospitals and teaching hospitals of UCAS. Hospital management teams and key experts will have full access to UCAS’s medical, educational, and research resources, including professional title evaluation, project applications, academic fund applications, research award nominations, and academic further education and training. The information systems of hospitals under New Century Healthcare Group will also be fully integrated with those of the UCAS School of Medicine and its existing affiliated hospitals, enabling the sharing of medical resources within the UCAS system.
Currently, the IrisKing multimodal biometric recognition system (hereinafter referred to as the “IrisKing System”), developed by the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been successfully implemented at hospitals under the New Journey Hospital Group. The IrisKing System, which previously received the Second Prize for National Technological Invention, effectively helps hospitals enhance patient safety indices and improve medical care quality. Notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the system enabled a zero-contact process for outpatient visits, thereby preventing cross-infection.
Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Horizon Hospital Group, stated, “The affiliation of Yankuang New Horizon General Hospital with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) marks the beginning of a collaborative healthcare model between large comprehensive hospital groups and top-tier medical schools. We are committed to establishing UCAS-affiliated Yankuang New Horizon General Hospital as an industry benchmark for this model. With the support of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, we will continue to facilitate the affiliation of our tertiary hospitals with UCAS, systematically building regional medical centers that integrate medical care, education, and research, thereby making this model an innovative exemplar for China’s healthcare service industry.”