Dr. Jianhong Zhang, MD is the President of Yanchi County People’s Hospital in Ningxia Autonomous Region in China hosted a very engaging conversation at HSPH. Before this position, he was the director of several town medical centers in Ningxia, such as Huianpu, Wanglejing, and Huamachi. In 2017, he was awarded the honorary title of “One of the 100 Best County Hospital Presidents in China”. Dr. Zhang graduated with a medical degree from the Ningxia Medical College.
In Yanchi County, a health payment system reform helps establish a model of medical care that balances medical supply and demand, improves prevention, and provides convenient care to residents. The goal of the reform is to give rural residents access to medical care “in village for mild diseases, in town for common diseases, in county for major diseases, and only in out-of-county large hospitals for difficulty and disastrous conditions”. The new model has effectively resolved the problem of “unaffordable access to health care and high financial risk” for rural residents
