New Milestone Hospital Group and Bethune Medical Expert Committee Sign Strategic Cooperation Agreement to Enhance Regional Healthcare
On the afternoon of September 30, the Bethune Medical Experts Committee (hereinafter referred to as “BMEC”) and New Journey Hospital Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “New Journey Hospital Group”) signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Beijing. Jin Yongcheng, President of BMEC and President of the Enterprise Hospitals Branch of the Chinese Hospital Association, and Lin Yanglin, CEO of New Journey Hospital Group, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations. VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) reported the news promptly.
Both parties will jointly initiate the establishment of multiple specialized committees under the Bethune Medical Experts Committee. The Bethune Medical Experts Committee will engage in comprehensive cooperation with hospitals affiliated with New Journey Group through various forms, including departmental assistance, joint discipline development, operational management, and talent cultivation, thereby exploring models that fully integrate hospital operations with physician value.
The Beijing Alumni Association of Bethune Medical University (abbreviated as “BMA”) is a first-tier social organization in Beijing with legal person status, approved by the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, authorized by the Beijing Municipal Government’s Office of Cultural and Educational Affairs, and registered with the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau. The Bethune Medical Committee is a subordinate branch of the BMA; it is a social organization registered and approved by the civil affairs authorities. Its mission is to integrate resources from outstanding experts across various medical fields in China, build a premier academic service brand, promote cultural development and technological advancement in major healthcare institutions nationwide, and provide support and services for public welfare initiatives named after Norman Bethune.
Cao Wenhui, Chief Human Resources Officer of New Journey Hospital Group, outlined the specifics of the collaboration between the Bethune Medical Committee and New Journey Hospital Group: both parties will jointly establish multiple specialized committees under the Bethune Medical Expert Committee, including the Oncology Specialized Committee. Each specialized committee will collaborate with New Journey Hospital Group and its affiliated hospitals to extensively promote academic exchanges and technical cooperation. The collaborations with several of these specialized committees are exclusive.
The Bai Yiyi Committee has authorized New Journey Hospital Group to use brands such as the “Bethune Medical Experts Committee Collaboration Center,” “Bethune Medical Experts Committee Partner Hospital,” “Bethune Medical Experts Committee Training Center,” and “Bethune Medical Experts Committee Clinical Base.”
The White Medical Committee will provide departmental development and technical assistance to hospitals under the New Milestone Hospital Group through free clinics, case consultations, surgical guidance, clinical bases, and academic forums. It will recommend leading domestic and international specialists and renowned experts to serve as specially appointed directors of the latter’s specialized disciplines and key developmental departments. These specially appointed directors and their teams will be responsible for discipline planning and development, departmental management, clinical diagnosis and treatment, remote consultations, technical mentorship, talent selection, and scientific research and teaching. Meanwhile, both parties will select promising medical and nursing staff to pursue advanced training and studies in established departments at large-scale hospitals. The White Medical Committee will also support local medical teams in talent development and physician selection mechanisms, assisting hospitals in establishing comprehensive training systems.
Jin Yongcheng has long been engaged in clinical practice and theoretical research in neurosurgery. During his tenure as the President of Aerospace Center Hospital, he was awarded the Major Contribution Award for the 50th Anniversary of China’s Aerospace Industry and was repeatedly recognized as an Outstanding Director of Employee Hospitals Nationwide. Jin Yongcheng endorses the development direction of New Journey Hospital Group: “Practicing medicine with diligence, controlling costs, and achieving reasonable profits.” The foundation of their partnership lies primarily in their shared philosophy. Jin Yongcheng stated, “The professionals at the White Medical Committee excel in diagnosis and treatment. By collaborating with New Journey Hospital Group and its affiliated hospitals to deliver high-quality medical services, we can leverage our complementary strengths to jointly strengthen and expand the healthcare industry.”
Yu Zonghe previously served as Director of the Department of Medical Administration under the Ministry of Health, where he pioneered the introduction and establishment of a tiered hospital management system and hospital accreditation framework. Commenting on this collaboration, Mr. Yu stated, “Mr. Lin has a profound understanding of healthcare delivery funded by social capital. Both parties share the following expectations for our partnership: to design a mechanism within New Milestone’s open healthcare system that enables physicians to devote themselves fully to providing high-quality clinical care, while ensuring that hospitals generate reasonable revenue and profits to sustain normal operations. The White Coat Committee will focus on advancing medical technical capabilities, while New Milestone will create a favorable environment for physicians through optimized mechanisms and operational models. Together, we aim to achieve our shared goal: delivering high-quality medical services to the public.”
In summary, this agreement encompasses a wide range of areas, including brand affiliation, department development, technical assistance, and medical talent cultivation. It can be said that the White Medical Committee will provide robust, self-sustaining support to New Journey Hospital Group and its affiliated hospitals.
New Journey Hospital Group Co., Ltd. is an open healthcare group controlled by CITIC Private Equity Funds, specializing in oncology. With hospitals as its industrial entry point, the group covers hospital management, physician practice groups, medical data, and cross-border healthcare services, providing patients with comprehensive health solutions throughout their entire care journey.
At the end of 2014, New Milestone Hospital Group co-established Beijing New Milestone Cancer Hospital with Peking University Cancer Hospital. This year, it also made strategic investments in Luoyang Dongfang Hospital and CITIC Central Hospital. Lin Yanglin has repeatedly highlighted New Milestone Hospital Group’s plan to build central diagnostic and treatment centers and regional medical centers: collaborating with public hospitals in first-tier cities through various models to establish central diagnostic and treatment centers; deploying hospital clusters in second- and third-tier cities to create regional medical centers, thereby forming a two-way linkage of experts and patients between these regional centers and the central diagnostic and treatment centers in first-tier cities. According to Lin Yanglin, New Milestone Hospital Group will continue to seek strategic partnerships with hospitals that share highly aligned philosophies, based on this operational framework.
While strategically investing in hospital infrastructure, New Milestone Hospital Group has consistently prioritized building its capacity to export medical resources. It has established strategic partnerships with the Beijing Ivy League Medical High-End Talent Alliance and the Chang Gung Medical Foundation, and has collaborated with numerous renowned industry experts to establish physician companies and co-develop expert workstations.
“We aim to build an open healthcare resource platform; therefore, we not only operate our own physician management company but also engage in deep collaborations with various physician groups. Furthermore, we invite experts from the platform to provide disciplinary planning and departmental support for the hospitals we have invested in, while these affiliated hospitals offer the experts a practical base and fresh perspectives,” said Lin Yanglin.
This model sounds appealing, but can New Journey Hospital Group actually implement it? Lin Yanglin cited two cases.
Less than three weeks after signing the investment agreement with CITIC Central Hospital, New Journey Hospital Group invited several renowned experts from Beijing to jointly organize an academic symposium on urological diagnosis and treatment in western Henan with the Luoyang Medical Association. The event featured live surgical demonstrations, which not only promoted the development of key disciplines at CITIC Central Hospital but also introduced the most advanced medical technologies and standardized practices to the hospital.
In 2015, New Journey Hospital Group entered into strategic cooperation discussions with Luoyang Dongfang Hospital. During these negotiations, Lin Yanglin learned of Luoyang Dongfang Hospital’s need to strengthen and expand its cardiovascular specialty, and promptly facilitated a collaboration between Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and Luoyang Dongfang Hospital. In January 2016, the “Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences–Luoyang Dongfang Hospital Cardiovascular Disease Technology Training Center” was officially launched. Subsequently, expert teams from Fuwai Hospital regularly conducted outpatient consultations, performed surgeries, and delivered academic lectures at Luoyang Dongfang Hospital, while medical staff from Luoyang Dongfang Hospital were arranged to undertake advanced training at Fuwai Hospital.
In systematic endeavors, Lin Yanglin has also gained valuable insights: “Amid the current investment boom in hospitals, many institutions are pouring in capital, but the core challenge lies in strengthening discipline construction, talent development, and operational management capabilities. Building a systematic, market-oriented platform for expert resources has always been a key focus for New Milestone. Coordinating experts from first-tier cities to support discipline construction in hospitals in second- and third-tier cities through market-based mechanisms undoubtedly aligns with the national direction of decentralizing high-quality medical resources. The transition from ‘blood transfusion’ (short-term aid) to ‘hematopoiesis’ (self-sustaining capacity building) for local hospitals also resonates with the aspirations of most experts, who aim to disseminate the medical technologies and clinical standards cultivated at top domestic medical institutions to more local hospitals.”