The Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University's general practice training base was founded at the Tianshenggang Fumin Center in the Gangzha Economic Development Zone in Gangzha district on Aug 28 – a move by the hospital and the zone towards cooperating in building a medical consortium. 

Officials said that a medical consortium, which consists of a comprehensive hospital and a number of community health service centers, will integrate all the medical resources of a region. 

They said this will improve the ability and services offered by grassroots medical and health institutions and help more patients receive nearby medical treatment.

Relying on management and the technical advantages of Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University and its fame, the general practice training base will enhance the management levels and medical technology of Tianshenggang Fumin Center. 

It will do so through training in house calls and with advanced and training and management guidance, so as to deepen patients' trust in the community health care center. 

A wound care center directed by experienced doctor Yuan Baofang will be opened at theTianshenggang Fumin Center. In addition, Cui Qiuxia, former head nurse of the hospital's emergency department, will be instructed to guide nursing work in the wound care center. 

Huang Zhongwei, director of the hospital's emergency department, will support the Tianshenggang Fumin Center in two-way referrals, talent training and in specialized subjects through the general practice training base. 

"We will next establish a regular exchange mechanism between the leaders of the two sides to further develop the medical consortium," said Peng Yufei, a top official of the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University. 

The hospital has been in partnership with Tianshenggang Fumin Center since the hospital established a general practice center there in January last year. 

The hospital has arranged for experts in the neurology, respiratory medicine, rheumatology and immunology, acupuncture, gynaecology and obstetrics, general surgery and dermatology departments to give medical services at Tianshenggang Fumin Center.

As a result, the center received a total of 15,000 patients and handled 1,700 referrals from the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University in 2018. In the first half of 2019, the center treated 16,605 patients. 

Officials said the surge of outpatient service numbers in the center reflected the confidence of local residents in the medical consortium. 

Currently, four out of six community health service centers in Gangzha district have established medical consortiums with higher-level hospitals and have cooperated on different fields.