Chinese hospital executives look to Las Vegas for inspiration

Michelle Swafford

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

St. Rose Dominican Hospitals -- Siena Campus and Southern Hills Hospital may be thousands of miles away from China, but parts of them are likely to end up there.

A group of eight Chinese executives looking for the latest hospital designs and technology turned to Southern Hills, St. Rose and five other hospitals in Los Angeles and Baltimore for ideas this week to take back to Zhengzhou, China where they are building a 1,500-bed hospital that should open in the next few years.

The Innova Group, a health care consulting firm based in Austin, Texas, is consulting with the Chinese executives on the design and details of Zhengzhou Yihe Hospital and wanted to showcase some of the options available in U.S. hospitals.

HCA Inc.-owned Southern Hills and Catholic Healthcare West-owned St. Rose were chosen among top research hospitals such as Johns Hopkins Hospital and UCLA Medical Center.

Hospitals officials said Tuesday they were excited to be able to showcase their technology and approach to patient care.

"We were flattered that they chose our hospital," Southern Hills spokeswoman Annette Kinsman said. "We feel very strongly that we have state-of-the-art equipment and the most advanced technology to improve patient care and we were happy to share that with them."

The purpose of the visit was "to show them the state-of-the-art in different aspects and meet their social needs as well," said Peter Trice, vice president of The Innova Group.

The 1,500-bed hospital will care for about 2 million people in the central business district of Zhengzhou, Trice said, adding that the Chinese hospital is comparable to a 500-bed hospital in the United States.

Ping Yang, executive president of Yihe Hospital, Furong Kong, director of nursing for Yihe Hospital and a group of architects and planners snapped photos and asked numerous questions about the high-tech services available at Southern Hills and St. Rose. Southern Hills showcased its bedside computer charting system, level-two nursery for critical babies and operating and emergency room equipment.

St. Rose focused on its diagnostic equipment, pediatrics and neurosurgery departments and healing garden.

St. Rose also wanted to share its design approach for the Siena and San Martin campuses, St. Rose spokesman Andy North said.

Input was taken from physicians, St. Rose executives and the architect to "design the most efficient working environment possible." North said.

Although the Chinese executives were impressed with the Las Vegas Valley's health care approach, not all of the equipment and processes are an option for China's health care system, Trice said.

For example, Southern Hills has high-tech, adjustable beds that enable babies to be delivered without moving the mothers and allow surgery procedures to be conducted in a variety of positions.

In China, hospitals have twin beds like you would buy at a bed store here, Trice said. And, Chinese obstetrics services are divided into four areas: labor, delivery, recovery and post partum, which differs from many of the Las Vegas Valley hospitals that treat expectant mothers in one room throughout the birthing process, he said.

Chinese hospitals also do not allow fathers in the delivery room or any family members in the intensive care unit, Trice said.

Also, many of the hospitals in China do not have central heating and air conditioning in the medical-surgical patient rooms, he said, adding that fewer energy expenses and cheaper labor making it less expensive to build a hospital there.

Chinese hospitals provide all health care -- primary through critical care -- and they do not offer any outpatient services, Trice said, adding that the average length of stay is 11 days in China compared with 4.5 days in the United States.