New Milestone Health Group and Ivy Medical Alliance Co-Establish Cardiac Center at Yankuang New Milestone General Hospital

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on August 8, the Beijing Ivy League Medical High-End Talent Alliance (hereinafter referred to as “Ivy League”) officially signed an agreement with Yankuang New Journey General Hospital. The two parties will jointly establish a Heart Center. Over the next three years, they aim to elevate the diagnosis and treatment capabilities for cardiovascular diseases at Yankuang New Journey General Hospital to the level of a leading discipline in southwestern Shandong Province and to an advanced level among peer hospitals within the province, striving to designate it as a key discipline in Shandong Province.

Wu Yongbo, Chairman of the Beijing Ivy League Medical High-End Talent Alliance, and Zhang Chuanjun, President of Yankuang New Journey General Hospital, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective parties.

Since April 2018, when New Journey Hospital Group (hereinafter referred to as “New Journey”) invested in Yankuang New Journey General Hospital, the hospital has successively established an International Consultation Center, a Radiation Therapy Center, and a Heart Center. Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Journey Hospital Group, stated, “The establishment of these specialized centers is an essential step toward developing Yankuang New Journey General Hospital into a top-tier Grade A tertiary hospital in southwestern Shandong Province.”

On the morning of August 8, Wu Yongbo, Chairman of the Beijing Ivy League Medical High-End Talent Alliance; Liang Chao, Director of the Health Commission of Zoucheng City, Shandong Province; Cao Wenhui, Chief Human Resources Officer of New Milestone Hospital Group; Wang Ailiang, Chief Medical Officer of New Milestone Hospital Group; Zhang Chuanjun, President of Yankuang New Milestone General Hospital; and Yang Chuanhua, Party Secretary of Yankuang New Milestone General Hospital, attended the signing ceremony for the collaborative establishment of the Heart Center by the Ivy League and Yankuang New Milestone General Hospital.

Following the signing ceremony, a free clinic team was formed by three experts from Ivy League—Professor Wang Jingmin (Secretary-General of Ivy League), Professor Hua Lu (Chief Physician of the Department of Cardiology at Fuwai Hospital), and Professor Wang Fangyun (Deputy Director of the Heart Center at Beijing Children’s Hospital)—along with five experts from the Heart Center of Yankuang New Mileage General Hospital. The team conducted a large-scale free clinic event in the hospital’s outpatient lobby.

Professor Wang Rong (Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Pediatric Anesthesiology, Fuwai Hospital) and Professor Feng Zhengyi (Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Extracorporeal Circulation, Fuwai Hospital) provided on-site guidance to the hospital’s Department of Anesthesiology, Operating Room, and Heart Center.

Subsequently, seven experts from Ivy Health engaged in discussions with the management team and specialists of New Journey and Yankuang New Journey General Hospital to conduct an in-depth exploration of work plans for the new phase.

Wu Yongbo, Chairman of Ivy, will personally serve as the Distinguished Director of the Heart Center at Yankuang New Journey General Hospital. He will assist the hospital in assembling a team of medical technology experts, cultivating professionals in cardiac diagnosis and treatment, and carrying out initiatives such as expert outpatient services at the Heart Center, technical staff training, consultations for critically ill patients, hands-on surgical instruction, continuing medical education for cardiologists, guidance for project applications, and related research projects, thereby comprehensively enhancing the hospital’s capabilities in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

As a key discipline in Jining City, Shandong Province, the Heart Center of Yankuang New Journey General Hospital features a comprehensive setup comprising the First Department of Cardiology, the Second Department of Cardiology, the Third Department of Cardiology, the Department of Cardiac Surgery, the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU), and the Department of Interventional Therapy. The center performs over 1,000 cardiac interventional procedures and more than 200 various cardiac surgical operations annually. It holds technical advantages in the management of coronary artery disease, congenital heart disease, arrhythmias, hypertension, heart failure, as well as in coronary intervention diagnosis and treatment and cardiothoracic surgery. In 2018, the hospital established a National Chest Pain Center.

“With the assistance of Ivy League experts and the support of the (New Milestone) Group, our Heart Center’s diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities will undoubtedly reach a first-tier level in southwestern Shandong Province and an advanced level within the province within three years,” stated Zhang Chuanjun. He added that this progress brings Yankuang New Milestone General Hospital one step closer to achieving the three-year goal set by New Milestone: “to become a first-tier Grade A tertiary hospital in southwestern Shandong Province.”

Ivy was established in August 2014 as a non-profit social organization jointly initiated by domestic medical experts and well-known enterprises. It brings together experts with associate senior professional titles or above from key departments of renowned hospitals across China. As of mid-June 2019, Ivy had 273 individual expert members from key departments of various Grade A tertiary hospitals in Beijing, including specialists from top-tier institutions such as Fuwai Hospital, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking University Cancer Hospital, the PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital), and Beijing Children’s Hospital.

As of June 2019, Ivy had launched talent development programs covering nine relevant disciplines—including cardiology, cardiac surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology—across 21 cities and counties nationwide, cultivating a “permanent” medical workforce for cooperative hospitals at both the municipal and county levels. Ivy’s expertise has been particularly notable in assisting local hospitals with the development of their cardiology and cardiac surgery departments; experts have visited numerous hospitals in Sichuan, Shanxi, Chongqing, and Heilongjiang, helping these institutions achieve significant progress in their cardiac care units.

An expert from Ivy League analyzed that the development of a Heart Center requires coordinated progress between cardiology and cardiac surgery. The growth of cardiac surgery depends on a sufficient patient volume, necessitating high-level support from the hospital’s departments of anesthesiology, medical imaging, and nursing. Conversely, the healthy development of a Heart Center will drive the concurrent advancement of specialties such as anesthesiology, medical imaging, and interventional medicine within the hospital.

The development of cardiology is a core component of a hospital’s clinical competitiveness. According to the “China Cardiovascular Disease Report 2018” released by the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, there are approximately 290 million patients with cardiovascular disease in China. The development of the Heart Center at Yankuang New Journey General Hospital will benefit more patients and enhance the hospital’s comprehensive strength and influence.

New Milestone’s collaboration with the Ivy League began in April 2015, with both parties aiming to “jointly provide technical assistance to improve healthcare standards in medically underserved areas, and alleviate the challenge of uneven distribution of medical resources in China through measures such as departmental capacity building and telemedicine.”

Since then, New Milestone has continuously introduced partners to empower its affiliated hospitals and developed a systematic approach to enhancing their performance. This comprehensive strategy covers all critical aspects of hospital development, including discipline construction, medical quality, nursing services, talent development, mechanism innovation, performance reform, brand enhancement, information technology, and business models.

Since then, New Milestone has continuously introduced partners to empower its affiliated hospitals and developed systematic solutions to enhance their performance. These solutions cover all aspects essential to hospital development, including discipline construction, medical quality, nursing services, talent development, mechanism innovation, performance reform, brand enhancement, information technology, and business models. Yankuang New Milestone General Hospital serves as a typical example.

Yankuang New Journey General Hospital is home to one National Demonstration Unit for Traditional Chinese Medicine Work in General Hospitals and 12 key specialties designated by Jining City, Shandong Province. In the 2018 Shandong Provincial Hospital Performance Evaluation, it ranked fourth in the proportion of Level III and IV surgeries.

Since New Journey Investment acquired Yankuang New Journey General Hospital in April 2018, it has successively supported the establishment of an International Consultation Center, a Radiotherapy Center, and a Heart Center, introducing top-tier medical resources from both China and abroad. On July 12, 2019, when the Radiotherapy Center was inaugurated, Academician Yu Jinming of the Chinese Academy of Engineering was appointed as the Chief Consultant of the hospital’s Oncology Center, and New Journey equipped the hospital with the second intelligent radiotherapy platform in China, valued at tens of millions of yuan.

Since 2018, Yankuang New Journey General Hospital has successively established a Chest Pain Center, Stroke Center, Trauma Center, Oncology Center, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Center. In December 2018, the Jining Municipal Health Commission designated Yankuang New Journey General Hospital as a “Jining City Chest Pain Center Construction Unit,” “Jining City Trauma Center Construction Unit,” and “Jining City Standardized Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Ward.” In March 2019, the Chinese Stroke Association accredited the hospital as a “Comprehensive Stroke Center.”

In the view of Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Journey Hospital Group, “Earlier this year, Yankuang New Journey General Hospital passed the re-accreditation for Grade A Tertiary hospitals, and the next focus will be on continuous discipline construction.” In 2019, Yankuang New Journey General Hospital will prioritize the development of major disciplinary centers, including an Oncology Center, Heart Center, High-End Women’s and Children’s Center, and Stroke Center.