Hebei hospital 70% empty as patients flock to capital city

Some 700,000 outside patients overload Beijing hospitals every day as a top hospital in neighboring Hebei province sits 70 percent empty, a Beijing news magazine reported.

Non-Beijing residents accounted for one-third of the city's 220 million hospital patients in 2013, a 10.9 percent rise from 2012. But Beijing medical staff increased 6.3 percent in the same period to a total 294,000, Outlook Weekly said.

Seven million Hebei province residents receive medication at Beijing hospitals every year, the report said, citing the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Hebei patients make up the lion's share of incoming patients, 23 percent of total arrivals from outside the city.

A top-level general hospital 30 kilometers from Beijing had 70 percent of beds empty last year, Outlook Weekly reported.

Residents living near Yanda International Hospital in the city of Yanjiao complained about the complicated bureaucratic procedures.

Hebei hospitals generally lag behind Beijing in medical resources and services, Yang Xinjian, director of the provincial health bureau, told the Beijing-based magazine.

They also lack focused development in specific disciplines that might give Hebei an edge over its big city neighbor.

The top hospitals in Beijing have been hit by a continuous rise in patient numbers over the last five years, Zhong Dongbo, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning was quoted as saying.

Hospitals in China are organized into three grades and 10 levels that recognize a hospital's ability to provide medical care, education and research.