Shandong Nightingale Care Services Files for IPO, Aiming to Become China's First 'Elderly Care Stock'

I first met Wang Liyi, Chairman of Shandong Nightingale Nursing Services Co., Ltd., at the 2017 Annual Conference and Internet of Things Investment Forum hosted by Cybernaut Investment Group. This entrepreneur has an extraordinary background: he twice served on the front lines during the Sino-Vietnamese Self-Defense Counterattack and is also an accomplished violinist. For over a decade, he has been dedicated to cultivating healthcare professionals and developing the elderly care industry.

During an exclusive interview with VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat), Wang Liyi, a seasoned veteran in the field, spoke with confidence and poise. Whenever he discussed Nightingale and its affiliated institution, Shandong Liming Vocational College of Science and Technology, his deep passion and unwavering conviction were unmistakable.

Previously, in our article on VCBeat"Integrated Medical and Elderly Care Industry: Breaking the Trillion-Yuan Mark in 2021, Where Are the Opportunities in This 'Blue Ocean' That Is Also a 'Sea of Bitterness'?"It is pointed out that the shortage of practitioners is one of the urgent challenges to be addressed in the elderly care industry, and Nightingale serves as a classic example of breaking through this sector by focusing on “people.” In an era where the issue of providing for the elderly can no longer be ignored, and within an elderly care market whose pie is growing yet remains difficult to slice, has the time come for companies like Nightingale, which hold valuable human resources in elderly care talent?

VCBeat Exclusive Interview with Wang Liyi (right), Chairman of Nightingale, and Meng Yu (left), CEO

1984,Shandong Liming Vocational College of Science and Technology (Shandong University of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine)It was founded by Professor Wang Xianming, the father of Wang Liyi, who was a pioneer among China’s first generation of practitioners engaged in research and clinical practice integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

"This isThe First Private University Established After the Founding of New China"...and it remains the only private medical university to date that features the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine as its educational hallmark." Its distinctive specialties include Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Materia Medica, and Rehabilitation Nursing. Prior to this, however, there was a long-standing absence of professional textbooks on the integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. In the absence of such materials, Professor Wang Xianming personally served as editor-in-chief starting in 2008, compiling the first set of textbooks on integrated traditional Chinese and Western geriatric care and nursing for nationwide distribution in China.

Thanks to its well-designed academic programs and high graduate employment rate, Liming College saw its student enrollment surpass 34,000 in 2014, becomingChina's Largest Private School。

At this point, one might assume that this is simply an institution that has achieved notable success in educating healthcare professionals. However, Wang Liyi and his father, Wang Xianming, have a vision that extends far beyond this. Liming College was quick to recognize the new pulse of the industry: the focus of talent training is no longer solely on degree-based education, but rather on the subsequent job placement and deployment of graduates. Their thinking was highly forward-looking. Given that China’s traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) techniques and healthcare professionals have already reached a certain level of proficiency, why not facilitate a global flow of such talent?

The above idea was from 2003Nightingale Nursing Services Co., Ltd.The fundamental premise for establishment. The purpose of founding this company is to integrate Liming College’sMarketization of Educational Resources, providing outsourced and chain services for elderly care and nursing staff to individuals, families, or medical institutions. “In 2003, Nightingale had a registered capital of RMB 20 million. At that time, this substantial sum of real money placed significant pressure and responsibility on us.”

“Nightingale,” the name of the world’s first nurse, symbolizes the founder of the nursing profession. “In our efforts to build the company into an international brand, we encountered numerous obstacles while registering the name ‘Nightingale.’ However, securing the registration of these four characters, which are universally recognized worldwide, will better position our brand at the forefront of the times,” recalled Wang Liyi.

In 2006, during a group discussion at the Jinan Municipal People’s Congress, where Wang Liyi served as a deputy, elderly care emerged as a hotly debated topic. Following the congress, Wang Liyi and his father resolved to leverage their pool of nursing professionals to launch an elderly care venture.

On the one hand, Wang Liyi wantsCreating Exclusive Senior Living Spaces for the Elderly. In 2006, he established a novel elderly care institution named “Happiness Commune.” After more than a decade of exploration, the group has built an international hot spring wellness and health city specifically designed for the elderly at the foot of Mount Tai.

On the other hand, the Nightingale Group is continuously managing and exporting elderly care professionals, forming a unique model supported by Liming College.Integrated Model of Medical Care, Elderly Care, and EducationThe company operates the largest private integrated medical and elderly care complex in Shandong Province, combining rehabilitative medicine, integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, and a robust talent resource base. Leveraging this experience, Nightingale is also extending its services externally by developing targeted talent training programs tailored to the specific cultivation needs proposed by corporate clients.

In 2014, Nightingale secured investment from Cyber Capital Group. Meng Yu, General Manager of Cyber Capital’s Health Division, became CEO of Nanning Nightingale, helping to further internationalize the company and integrate it with internet and IoT technologies. “We know that there is a shortage of elderly care talent everywhere; the priority for nurses immigrating to the United States is on par with that of Yao Ming immigrating to the US. Nightingale has already introduced excellent overseas nursing curricula. In the future, we will also export high-quality Chinese medical services, such as traditional Chinese medicine, massage, and acupuncture. If opportunities arise, we plan to recruit nursing staff from countries like the Philippines,” said Meng Yu, discussing Nightingale’s internationalization strategy.

And now, Nightingale is no longer limited to providing elderly care talent and management services; it has also builtChina's Largest and Most Comprehensive Health Incubation Demonstration Park for the Medical and Elderly Care Industry, and is forming a““Medical · Elderly Care · Education · Tourism Crowdsourcing Cloud Platform”, enabling various nurses and caregivers to launch their own ventures through this platform. Its medical-elderly care industry incubation park, along with the aforementioned International Hot Spring Wellness Health City,Total investment reaches RMB 5 billion。

“Over the years I have worked in the elderly care sector, the joys and hardships I have experienced are difficult for outsiders to understand. ‘The state is now fully supporting the development of elderly care services, and we are gradually entering a fast track thanks to our advantage in elderly care talent. However, my strongest feeling is that the best time for the elderly care industry has yet to come.’”

Wang Liyi stated that although many students graduate from nursing programs each year, very few actually enter the elderly care industry, as compensation, benefits, and subsidies remain inadequate. “The hardships faced by elderly care workers are disproportionate to their rewards; unless driven by a sense of vocation, they could easily choose more lucrative industries.”

He stated that, as a founding director of the China Civil Elderly Care Planning Institute and an executive member of the China Elderly Care Services Association, he has also operated nursing homes and is well aware of the hardships within the elderly care industry. The reality of zero or even negative profits has deterred many elderly care institutions from further expansion, and has even compromised service quality, meal provision, and medical and nursing standards, creating a vicious cycle. While the state is currently making significant efforts to remove operational barriers for private elderly care service providers, practitioners must still undergo a prolonged period of arduous exploration in terms of concrete implementation.

Does this mean that there are greater opportunities in the high-end elderly care sector at this stage? “Frankly speaking, public acceptance of institutional elderly care is currently not very high. Especially in Shandong, the homeland of Confucius and Mencius, people may consider sending their elderly parents to care facilities as unfilial.”However, elderly individuals may actually enjoy a higher quality of life in medical-nursing combined care facilities. We also hope to foster a renewed understanding of elder care among the public in the coming years.”

Two years ago, rumors began circulating that Nightingale would become“The First Elderly Care Stock” Listed on China’s Main Board. In this interview, Wang Liyi told VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) that Nightingale had been preparing for its IPO, aiming to achieve the optimal conditions for listing.Expected to be officially launched in 2017。

“Our current ‘small goal’ is to take Nightingale public, but our larger future objective may involve listing separate companies for each business segment—medical care, elderly care, education, and tourism—to form a specialized, vertically integrated elderly services enterprise group,” said CEO Meng Yu. He added that what they most hope to see is various startups growing stronger and larger through the Nightingale Mass Innovation Cloud Platform, thereby incubating a thriving medical-elderly care ecosystem from this large-scale comprehensive elderly care industry complex.

All data related to this enterprise in the article were provided by the interviewee.