The Shanxi provincial government has altered its relocation plans. Officials have transferred the land allocated for a governmental office building in favor of constructing the largest comprehensive hospital in the province, according to a report from the China Youth Daily on January 21.

Several years ago the Shanxi government reclaimed the land, formerly army property. After spending several hundred million yuan, the government originally planned to construct a new office building there. Later, the Provincial Acting Governor Meng Xuenong proposed giving priority to citizens' welfare by utilizing some 19 hectares of this land to build a large, modern hospital. Consequently, the proposed office building has been cancelled.

Li Junfeng, Director of the Shanxi Health Department, said, "The province will spend 1 billion yuan on the new hospital, which shouldn't be luxurious, but must offer comprehensive and modern services."

According to Li, the health and medical facilities in the province at present does not meet local demand. The sickbed utilization rate has reached 137 percent in 13 large medical organizations in Taiyuan, capital city of the province. Tumors are found frequently; sickbed utilization rates in relevant hospitals have reached 200 percent, which means two patients must share one bed at the same time on average. Around 400,000 newborns are born each year in Shanxi yet only one children's hospital currently exists. Many children in need of care have no access to the hospital.

All the four best hospitals in Shanxi were built half a century ago and their development remained limited. Among them, the First and Second Hospitals of Shanxi Medical University have only about 1,000 beds respectively, while the Shanxi People's Hospital has only 1,200 beds.

Li said that the proposed hospital would be built in three to five years. It is designed to hold 2,000 beds and employ at least 2,500 staff. Within the coming three years, the provincial Finance Department will allocate 500 million yuan for construction. And the provincial Development and Reform Commission will provide another 500 million yuan in loans at a discount.

The present Shanxi provincial government office building is an important cultural and historical site under protection; the building formerly served as Yan Xishan's military governance office. Yan ruled Shanxi Province for almost 40 years from 1911 to 1949. From 1949 onward, the site has been used as the provincial government office building.

According to Li, part of the provincial government units will be relocated to the remaining area near the proposed new hospital. The present office building is scheduled for renovation; it will serve as a public museum for tourists.

(China.org.cn by Zhou Jing, January 24, 2008)