Everything here looks new, clean, orderly and cozy. No cold faces behind glass windows, no noisy and crowded corridors, not even anyone in white gowns. You may doubt if you are really in a hospital.

But be assured. You are in Shanghai's first private hospital, the Bo'ai (Philanthropism) Hospital, situated at Huaihai Zhonglu Road, downtown Shanghai.

Walking around the hospital, one would find many places that really do not match with your conception of hospitals, at least the hospitals for ordinary citizens.

The reception desk of the out-patient department is an open counter, instead of the usual glass window with a hole on it. The staff, with smiling faces, wear smart-looking waistcoats, instead of the usual white gowns.

You may also find the reading corner, where patients could take a comfortable seat the sofa and read the many magazines offered free.

Inside the rooms, the temperature is controlled by a central air-conditioning system. The bed is set to let the patients' lie in the most comfortable and convenient ways they like. One such bed costs over 4,000 yuan (US$500).

Patients here are under 24 hour care. Personal nursery service is available for those who have difficulties in moving around.

Doctors here seems more patient and responsible than their counterparts elsewhere. And of course, they do not accept tips. Those who dare to do so would surely be sacked.

For all the quality services, the charges here are the cheapest among all hospitals. The charge for a bed at the hospitalized patient department is only 12 yuan (US$1.5) a day. The changes behind are more indicative. Just two years ago, the then Light Industry Hospital had only 10 patients. Eighty percent of the staff had left the hospital.

Now the hospital receives more than 400 out patients. Eighty percent of its over 100 professionals hold senior qualifications. The hospital has also signed more than 300 retired medical professors into its medical committee.

Two years ago, when the investor, the Shanghai Bo'ai Medical Technology Co., Ltd. bought the hospital at 20 million yuan (US$2.42 million) and spent another 48 million yuan (US$5.8 million) on the decoration work, it had voluntarily given the management a period to establish its brand name, during which losses would be tolerated.

The investment had proved more successful than they had expected.

In a short time, the hospital, surrounded by many rivals much larger and famous, has made a quite fame.

Its assets have doubled in two years' time. There is a balanced book of accountant and even a small profit, according to Peng Shaocheng, director of the hospital.

Bo'ai's success is surely a welcome story to the ordinary citizens, when soaring medical costs and poor service quality have become a common complaint.

Its impact has been felt by the whole industry, now dominated by state capital and is gradually opening for private and foreign investments.

Staffs at Ruijin, Huashan and other major Shanghai hospitals said increasing competition will force them to improve services if they are to retain their market share.

More competition is surely coming. Shanghai's second private hospital, the Ren'ai (Benevolence) Hospital, invested by a private enterprise from Shenzhen city in Guangdong Province, is now recruiting employees and will open soon.

More than 40,000 people have applied for the 100 jobs on offer, hospital sources said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2001)