A delegation led by Wang Pei’an, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), visited Taicang, Jiangsu province, on December 17, where they inspected the integrated services of elderly care with clinical treatment. The group went to elderly care institutions like Yiyueyuan in the city and its suburban county of Shaxi to learn the operating process, services and difficulties that providers faced. Wang and his team also greeted elderly people staying at those institutions. During the visit Wang hosted seminars to solicit ideas and discussed future plans with local officials regarding the program.

Wang pointed out that the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the care of the elderly population, who constantly require professional medical attention in daily life. Due to the limited number of medical and elderly care institutions and their relatively independent service system, it has become a demanding issue to provide integrated care from both clinicians and elderly caregivers to senior citizens.

Wang highly appreciated the progress made by relevant departments of Taicang under the leadership of its Party committee and government. The city has been actively promoting the integration of clinical service with elderly care to meet the demands of its senior citizens, particularly those that are disabled and partly disabled. It is the hope of the vice-minister that the city can keep exploring feasible ways of providing integrated services through theoretical research and field investigation.

He Zhaohua, deputy director-general of the NHFPC’s Department of Family Development, and Zhou Wenbin, deputy mayor of Taicang, were present during the inspection visit.