HMI and Hua Shan Hospital drive rapid development of new facilities, programs

HMI and Hua Shan Hospital (HSH) in China are already collaborating on the design of a long-awaited new facility in Pudong, a 250-bed multispecialty health care center with a special focus on oncology that will fill a critical need in Shanghai and in China. Now, they have expanded their partnership. In July, Dr. Robert K. Crone, HMI president and CEO, and Dr. Harvey Makadon, HMI director of health systems, met with Hua Shan leadership and formalized a long-term agreement to develop training programs and to design and develop several state-of-the-art health care facilities.

Said Dr. Da-yu Sun, CEO of Hua Shan Health Development Co., Ltd, and the visionary behind the partnership, “This expansion of our relationship is a wonderful opportunity to take the combined knowledge and skills of our two countries, cultures, and organizations and change the whole mode of delivering quality health care in this country.”

Dr. Jian-guang Xu of Hua Shan Hospital believes that the partnership with HMI represents “a good example for developing countries seeking to improve the quality of their healthcare services, as well as hospital management, by introducing new models from the world’s top medical institution, Harvard Medical School.”

Makadon looks forward to a long and productive collaboration. “We will be working with the leadership of Hua Shan Hospital to assess opportunities to develop new health care facilities, but perhaps of greater importance, we will collaborate to build excellence through innovation in clinical programs, implementation of quality management and professional development programs, and ongoing education programs for the medical community and the general public. ”

HMI representatives and the leadership of Hua Shan Hospital met to develop the design of the new hospital at Pudong.

Building the foundation for quality health care
The expanded agreement builds on an initial partnership that enlisted the help of HMI in planning for the continued growth of the existing Hua Shan Hospital as a center of clinical and educational excellence. Currently that 800-bed facility, located in old Shanghai, is the primary teaching hospital of Fudan University Medical School (formerly Shanghai Medical University).

The first major project of the partnership is well underway—the creation of a sister hospital in Pudong that Hua Shan Hospital’s leaders hope will set a standard of excellence for screening and prevention, as well as high-quality cancer treatment for the entire country, where oncology has not been a major focus.

Sun sees the new HSH facility in Pudong as a flagship hospital for what he hopes will be a network of such healthcare centers throughout China. “We believe that the Pudong facility will be the model,” he said. In addition to serving the citizens of Shanghai, the partners anticipate that the new Hua Shan Hospital will also cater to the growing international and diplomatic community in the city.

In creating this and future facilities, the partners are responding to a rapidly changing Chinese healthcare environment. China’s health care system, along with all Chinese industry, is moving towards privatization as the country becomes a world economic power. The Chinese government has been encouraging private companies to take over many of its hospitals. These companies are restoring these hospitals and working on restructuring the country's health care system at the same time.

A new blueprint for collaboration
In early June, an HMI team traveled to Shanghai to continue their collaboration on the design process. “Our Hua Shan partners have a real opportunity to help build a modern healthcare infrastructure from the ground up,” said Judy Mitchell, HMI director of planning, who, along with Albert Gillis, HMI director of health care facilities development, worked with clinical leaders to define program requirements and translate those needs into the language of space and design. They also met with the engineers and architects who will build the world-class health care structure.

Mitchell and Gillis look over plans for the new Hua Shan Hospital.

Gillis said that the basic structure for the hospital was built several years ago—a large, empty concrete structure. “We are working with our partners to decide what clinical programs will be offered, where each department will be located along with its layout, and what the staffing requirements will be,” he said, adding that HMI would also help develop an information system and equipment specifications, and facilitate the purchasing process.

Mitchell said that the design process itself is novel. “Instead of bringing in an international architectural firm as we have on other projects, we are training people from the Shanghai Institute of Design, an architectural institute, in the design elements of a first-class health care institution. So, the work will ultimately be done by local talent,” she said, adding that HMI hopes this model will work for future projects.

Mitchell and Gillis have been impressed with their Chinese counterparts. “We cannot say enough about the collaborative nature of these professionals, their unlimited energy, and their openness to innovative models,” said Mitchell.

HMI has also agreed to partner with Hua Shan Hospital to deliver a Practi-Med program next spring, in conjunction with the New England Journal of Medicine. “This program will be the centerpiece of our educational efforts,” said Makadon, who notes that HSH is not only dedicated to leadership in health care delivery, but in medical education as well. HMI created Practi-Med as a forum to bring together health care leaders from around the globe to educate practicing physicians and allied health care professionals in developing local solutions to common global health care challenges and disease burdens. 

A screenshot of the simulation program used to capture workflow in the planned surgery and invasive cardiology unit of HSH.