Bigger may not be better for China's "super hospitals"

 15-Jul-15, Daily Mail 

Demand for healthcare is booming in China, driven by a growing middle class, improved health insurance coverage and an aging population. In response, some of the country's public hospitals are adding beds by the thousand.

Image: The Straits Times

China now has 16 public hospitals with more than 3,000 beds. NewYork-Presbyterian, the largest hospital in the United States according to Becker's Hospital Review, has 2,478 beds.

But unlike the rest of the economy, where China wants growth, this expansion has policymakers worried. In 2014, Beijing issued a directive restricting expansion of public hospitals, but hospital administrators appear to be finding ways around it.

As China has chipped away at the drug mark-ups they once relied on, many hospitals see expansion as a way to raise revenues.

Hospital build-outs testify to a lack of public confidence in rural healthcare. They add to local government debt and may not be providing cost-effective care. 

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