Evergrande Health Launches Boao Evergrande International Hospital in Collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital
According to VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat), the “Boao Evergrande International Hospital,” jointly established by Evergrande Health Group and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in the United States, officially opened on February 28. This move indicates that the Evergrande Health family has gained a new member, adding fresh momentum to private capital’s entry into the healthcare sector.
Xia Haijun, Vice Chairman of the Board and President of Evergrande Group; Tan Chaohui, Chairman of Evergrande Health Industry Group; Shi Junping, Vice President of Evergrande Group; Mark Davis, Executive Director of the Strategic Development Project for Health Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; and leaders from relevant government departments in Hainan Province and Qionghai City attended the event.
At the conference, Xia Haijun stated that Boao Evergrande International Hospital is the first and only affiliated hospital established overseas by Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Built in strict accordance with Brigham’s high-standard technical specifications, the hospital is fully aligned with Brigham’s systems in management, diagnosis and treatment, operations, and rehabilitation. It aims to become a world-class specialty hospital for oncology, enabling patients in China to access top-tier U.S. medical services without leaving the country.
According to available data, Boao Evergrande International Hospital was invested in by Evergrande Health and established under the collaborative guidance of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States. The company responsible for its operations is Hainan Boao Evergrande International Hospital Co., Ltd., which was founded on July 1, 2015, with a registered capital of RMB 200 million.
According to Baidu Baike, Boao is one of Hainan’s “Top Ten Culturally Famous Towns” and serves as the permanent venue for the Boao Forum for Asia, an international conference organization. In March 2002, Boao Town covered an area of 86.75 square kilometers and administered 17 administrative villages. In 2015, the town had a total population of 29,000; its total economic output increased by 8%, per capita disposable income of rural residents rose by 11%, and the town government’s fiscal revenue exceeded RMB 4.36 million.
As of 2015, there were a total of five hospitals in Boao Town: the Chinese Red Cross Hospital, Boao Hospital (Qionghai City Boao Central Health Center), the Boao Village Committee Health Sub-station, the Dongyu Village Health Station, and the Boao Town Chaoyang Health Center.
In a small town with a limited population and scarce medical resources, why did Evergrande Health invest hundreds of millions of yuan to establish a high-end specialized oncology hospital?
In fact, on February 28, 2013, the State Council officially approved the establishment of the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Hainan Province and granted nine supportive policies. This marked the official launch of China’s first national-level development zone focused on international medical tourism services, low-carbon ecological communities, and a hub for international organizations, injecting new content and vitality into the construction of the International Tourism Island.
The nine policies mentioned here are detailed as follows:
Accelerate the import registration and approval of medical devices and pharmaceuticals in the pilot zone;
The pilot zone may apply to launch research projects on cutting-edge medical technologies, such as clinical studies on stem cells, based on its technical capabilities;
When approving non-public hospitals in the pilot zone and their offered diagnosis and treatment services, health authorities may concurrently approve the large-scale pharmaceutical equipment required within their scope of practice that meets the applicable staffing standards.
The trial period for overseas physicians to practice in the pilot zone is extended to three years;
Permit foreign capital to establish medical institutions within the pilot zone;
Import tariffs on certain medical devices and pharmaceuticals in the pilot zone may be appropriately reduced;
Appropriately increase the planned quota for construction land in the pilot zone;
Support and guide the pilot zone in introducing international organizations related to ecology, healthcare, and new energy, and host international conferences;
Encourage pilot zones to leverage multiple financing channels and attract social investment, among other measures.
Following the announcement of these nine preferential policies, by the end of that year, Evergrande Group announced that the “Harvard-affiliated” hospital, which had previously rejected its proposal for partnership, had finally achieved its desired outcome. In a public announcement dated December 15, 2016, Evergrande Group stated that it had signed an authorization agreement with Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard to establish Evergrande International Hospital in Boao, Hainan.
Against this backdrop, according to Xia Haijun, Boao Evergrande International Hospital has three major distinguishing features compared with traditional hospitals:
First, Evergrande International Hospital is established within the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone. It fully leverages the zone’s groundbreaking preferential policies and the conveniences of its bonded pharmaceutical warehouse in areas such as importing top-tier international medical devices and the latest drugs, conducting clinical research on stem cells, and enabling the practice of overseas physicians. This provides robust institutional and policy support for the synchronized application of cutting-edge global pharmaceuticals, technologies, and equipment at Evergrande Hospital.
Second, this is the fruition of the deepening cooperation in the health sector between China and the United States. As a Fortune 500 company with a strong sense of social responsibility, Evergrande Group possesses substantial capital strength. Our strategic partner, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is the hospital globally associated with the most Nobel Prizes and stands as a leading authority in oncology treatment worldwide. The opening of Evergrande International Hospital directly introduces world-class medical resources and technology to China, benefiting the Chinese people and marking a new chapter in the continuously strengthening health cooperation between China and the United States.
Third, this is a hospital operated in accordance with international standards and management models. As the first and only overseas affiliate of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States, Evergrande International Hospital has been built strictly following Brigham’s high-specification technical standards. It is fully aligned with Brigham in systems for management, diagnosis and treatment, operations, and rehabilitation, aiming to become the world’s premier specialized oncology hospital. The hospital has successfully introduced the world’s most advanced medical equipment, such as proton beam therapy systems—the most advanced technology for cancer treatment, with a cost exceeding one billion yuan—and intelligent linear accelerators, which are not yet widely available in China. Meanwhile, the hospital has recruited top medical experts from both China and the United States, adopting Brigham’s advanced Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) diagnosis and treatment model along with comprehensive medical services covering pre-disease, intra-disease, and post-disease stages. This effectively replicates a world-class specialized oncology hospital in China, enabling patients to access top-tier U.S. hospital medical services without leaving the country.
According to the 2017 Annual Report on Cancer Registration in China, released by the National Cancer Center, there are 4.29 million new cancer cases in China each year, accounting for 20% of the global total. In recent years, the demand among Chinese residents for overseas medical treatment has increased, with 80% being cancer patients and 20% suffering from cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and neurological diseases.
Seizing this market opportunity, Hainan Boao Evergrande International Hospital has established oncology as its specialty department and partnered with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the United States. As one of the primary teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital has been ranked among the top ten hospitals in the U.S. for many consecutive years and is one of the institutions worldwide associated with the highest number of Nobel laureates. It maintains a world-leading position in multiple specialties, including cancer, cardiology, gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, and rheumatology.
Meanwhile, a team of experts from Brigham will be directly involved in the hospital’s design, preparation, and operational launch, with a permanent presence at Boao Evergrande International Hospital. They will provide patients with comprehensive medical services spanning prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation, and leverage Brigham’s outstanding achievements in the medical field to establish a high-standard platform for clinical research and translation.
In terms of diagnosis and treatment, Boao Evergrande International Hospital will also facilitate international remote consultations through case reviews, imaging consultations, pathology consultations, and video conferences, enabling patients to receive world-class diagnostic and therapeutic services within China.
It is reported that Boao Evergrande International Hospital can detect and precisely locate lesions at an earlier stage through advanced technology, achieving an accuracy rate of over 90% in cancer screening. During the treatment phase, while domestic hospitals generally adopt a specialty-based care model that requires patients to visit multiple departments separately, Boao Evergrande International Hospital integrates top medical experts from China and abroad across internal medicine, surgery, radiotherapy, imaging, and nursing into multidisciplinary teams (MDT). These teams conduct comprehensive assessments and formulate precise, individualized treatment plans, thereby reducing misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatments, significantly improving diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes, and ensuring that costs are effectively allocated to appropriate services.
In fact, while the concept of multidisciplinary team (MDT) diagnosis and treatment is quite prevalent in Europe and the United States, it remains relatively uncommon in China. To ensure the successful implementation of the MDT model in China, Boao Evergrande International Hospital has been constructed in strict accordance with the management systems, diagnostic and therapeutic protocols, and technical standards of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Furthermore, it has engaged a team of medical experts from Brigham and Women’s Hospital for long-term on-site deployment, forming a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive patient assessments.
Mark Davis, Executive Director of the Health Business Development Strategy Project at Brigham Hospital, stated that the core of MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) diagnosis and treatment is being “patient-centered,” providing faster and more precise personalized treatment plans. “A team composed of multidisciplinary physicians will jointly select the optimal treatment plan for patients, and this team will also work closely with colleagues in the United States.”
As cancer is a chronic condition, post-treatment rehabilitation and wellness care are essential for patients. Furthermore, Boao Evergrande International Hospital will provide comprehensive wellness services tailored to individual patient needs, including rehabilitative therapy, psychological counseling, nutritional dietary planning, adjunctive therapy, and regular follow-up monitoring, thereby facilitating optimal post-illness recovery.
The opening of Boao Evergrande International Hospital marks the completion of the Evergrande Medical Consortium’s tiered diagnosis and treatment linkage system, which comprises high-end international hospitals, China’s top-tier Grade 3A hospitals, and Henghe Hospitals built within communities to Grade 3A standards. This ensures that Evergrande Health Group delivers high-quality, full-lifecycle, and comprehensive health management services.
The report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized the need to further implement the Healthy China strategy. Industry experts believe that Boao Evergrande International Hospital, by targeting cancer—the disease posing the greatest threat and highest complexity to human health—has introduced top-tier global medical talent, technologies, and resources. This enables Chinese citizens to access world-class medical services, significantly elevates domestic technical standards, and benefits the general public, thereby holding profound significance for advancing the implementation of the Healthy China strategy and meeting people’s aspirations for a better life.
Against the backdrop of China’s new healthcare reforms, Evergrande Health serves as a strategic vehicle for Evergrande Group’s expansion into the medical sector. The establishment of Boao Evergrande International Hospital represents only an initial step; the company aims to build a comprehensive, large-scale health industry group that integrates novel high-end international hospitals, all-age wellness services within “health and longevity spaces,” and community-based health management services.
For Evergrande Health, this initiative not only actively implements the national strategy of “Healthy China,” but also partners with Brigham and Women’s Hospital (one of the primary teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School) to provide world-class services in cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. Adhering to a patient-centered approach, it has established a proprietary health management system that delivers community-based prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and wellness services, complemented by medical aesthetics and anti-aging offerings to create a novel elderly care living experience. In response to population aging and the growing demand for improved quality of healthy living among residents, Evergrande Health has researched and formulated China’s first large-scale community health and elderly care living standards. It has innovatively developed “Evergrande Wellness Valley” as a key platform for realizing healthy lifestyles, offering comprehensive, all-age health and wellness services—including high-end international medical care, health management, and recuperation services—thereby making its due contribution to promoting physical and mental well-being and a better life for the general public.
It is worth noting that in its previous announcements, Evergrande Health mentioned that “Evergrande Health Group will actively explore cooperation with financial institutions such as insurance companies, gradually establish integration with national medical insurance, build a health security system covering various types of insurance, and develop a ‘Kaiser Model’ suited to China’s national conditions that effectively combines medical services with medical insurance. Meanwhile, the Group will continue to explore cross-industry integration with finance, tourism, internet, sports, leisure, food, and other sectors, incubating new industries, new formats, and new models within the broader health sector.”