Beijing hospitals sharing expertise

Beijing has provided aid to medical institutes in neighboring Hebei province to ease overcrowding in the capital's hospitals by treating patients near their homes.

Since 2014, Beijing has increased cooperation with hospitals in Hebei province's Yanjiao, Zhangjiakou and Caofeidian by providing experts for surgeries and helping to train doctors and nurses in Hebei hospitals, Gao Xiaojun, spokesman for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, said on Tuesday.

Gao cited a commission survey that found about 23 percent of patients in Beijing hospitals were Hebei residents in 2014. As the integration of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster was elevated to a national strategy, Beijing's hospitals have been trying to help improve medical services in Hebei that could better serve local patients, he said.