A township hospital with fixed assets valued at more than 6 million yuan (US$720,000) was sold to a private owner for 1.6 million yuan (US$192,771), incurring public wrath, according to an investigative report by Information Times.

Staff at the Mingcheng Town Hospital in Foshan's Gaoming District rang up the newspaper after reading an August 23 report covering a working conference of the Provincial Health Bureau. Officials at the conference stressed that every town in the province must have at least one public hospital.

The Mingcheng Town Hospital, the only public hospital in Mingcheng, was sold on June 14 without the hospital's directors or the 120-strong staff being consulted. Hundreds of township residents signed a petition to have the deal revoked to no avail, said staff members.

Patient numbers have dropped by half since the sale, as many locals no longer trust the hospital - private bosses are only interested in making money, some said.

Mai Zhaoxiong, Mingsheng Town's deputy Party secretary, declared that the sale price was fair in an interview with the newspaper.

The hospital had debts of more than 2 million yuan (US$240,000), and private funding was needed to upgrade hospital facilities, he said.

He attributed the hospital staff's protest to a "conflict of interests" and a "misunderstanding".

Hospital staff said they seriously doubted the debt figures.

Rather, there was every indication that the hospital was operating well in recent years - more than 1 million yuan (US$120,000) worth of new equipment was purchased, regular training programmes were held for staff and take-home pay increased.

Close