One year after his retirement, Zuo Guoqing, former member of the Party Committee and president of Chongqing Chinese Medicine Hospital, was investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law. Recently, the Chongqing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced this news.

Public information shows that Zuo Guoqing is 61 years old, a chief physician, professor, doctoral supervisor, master of medicine and master of business administration, and an expert enjoying special government allowances from the State Council. He has worked in the field of gastroenterology for more than 20 years and served as the vice president of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. He has a profound influence in the medical field in Chongqing.

Since 2012, Zuo Guoqing has been transferred to the president of Chongqing Chinese Medicine Hospital.

Chongqing Chinese Medicine Hospital is a century-old hospital with a history of more than 120 years. It is also the first national Chinese medicine hospital in Chinese history. It currently has 2,500 beds, an annual outpatient volume of more than 3.3 million people, and nearly 85,000 discharged patients. It is the largest and most powerful large-scale Class 3 Chinese medicine hospital in Chongqing.

In fact, the development of Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine was not smooth sailing. The hospital had undergone two integrations in 2003 and 2008. At the beginning of the merger, the hospital's infrastructure was backward, the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine were not obvious, and the comprehensive treatment capacity was weak, and there was a shortage of scientific research talents.

It was at this critical juncture that Zuo Guoqing, who was a Western medicine doctor, came to the hospital and took up the post of dean, but his work was not smooth at the beginning. In an interview with China Traditional Chinese Medicine News, Zuo Guoqing recalled that in 2012, when he had just been transferred from a Western hospital to the dean of Chongqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, he received a joint boycott letter before he stepped into the hospital gate.

"I came from a Western medicine doctor and I don't understand traditional Chinese medicine" was the main reason why the hospital staff found it difficult to accept Zuo Guoqing at that time. "Chongqing Zhengshier", produced by the Chongqing Branch of Xinhua News Agency, also pointed out in a report in 2017 that the hospital staff boycotted him because they believed that Zuo Guoqing, who came from a Western hospital, would definitely not attach importance to traditional Chinese medicine.

After taking office, Zuo Guoqing dispelled the concerns of employees through actions. He took the lead in formulating the development strategy of "one center, two cornerstones, and three levers", namely, taking people's health as the center, party style and clean government and work style construction, medical quality and safety as the cornerstone, and taking the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, improving comprehensive treatment capabilities and enhancing academic research levels as the levers.

Subsequently, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital issued the "Measures to Further Strengthen the Construction of Traditional Chinese Medicine Advantages", which included 58 items such as comments on traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, holding paste prescription culture festivals, developing and using in-hospital traditional Chinese medicine preparations, and strictly implementing the hard indicators of "traditional Chinese medicine participation in treatment".

In Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Zuo Guoqing also promoted the upsurge of "Western learning Chinese medicine" and jointly organized a "Western learning Chinese medicine" training course with two well-known traditional Chinese medicine universities. In the interview, he said that in the process of introducing leaders of Western medicine disciplines, two hard requirements will be adhered to, namely: whether to respect traditional Chinese medicine and whether to use traditional Chinese medicine.

Zuo Guoqing, who graduated from Western medicine, also presided over a number of TCM research projects, such as the Chongqing Science and Technology Commission's integrated demonstration project "Integrated Demonstration Research on the Prevention and Treatment of Arthritis with Traditional Chinese Medicine Characteristic Technology", Chongqing Science and Technology Key Project "Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine History Excavation and Utilization", etc. He wrote and published "Famous Doctors and Prescriptions in Chongqing", "Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine", and "Three Gorges Chinese Herbal Medicine Resources".

In just a few years, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has achieved rapid development. In the "2015 China Top 100 Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitals List", Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital ranked first among Western Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitals, and entered the first echelon of the country, and has maintained this leading position for many years.
After years of development, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has become the leader of local traditional Chinese medicine hospitals, and Zuo Guoqing has also won many honors: Chongqing May 1st Labor Medal, Chongqing Advanced Worker, Chongqing Fumin Xingyu Contribution Award Nomination Award, the Most Leadership Chinese Hospital Leader-Innovation Achievement Award, etc.

Later, when summarizing and sharing his management experience, he publicly introduced that, first, the reform and innovation of the system and mechanism; second, strengthening the awareness of crisis, integrity and competition of all cadres and staff of the hospital through the construction of party style and clean government; third, giving full play to the core competitiveness of traditional Chinese medicine hospitals, that is, the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, cultivating high-quality discipline brands, and achieving high-level scientific research results.

During his tenure, according to multiple media reports, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital attached great importance to the integrity of doctors. For example, someone in the hospital violated the regulations and prescribed "more than 60 large prescriptions" and was severely punished, including being transferred from the front-line clinical positions and suspending the right to prescribe.

According to a report by China Youth Daily in 2018, in addition to monthly prescription reviews, the hospital also established a "red and white list" system, reporting and criticizing doctors who violated regulations and disciplines on the "white list", and recording them in personal medical integrity management files, which were directly linked to annual assessments, professional title promotions, performance wages, and awards and commendations.

In addition, the hospital has also established a quality assurance mechanism for traditional Chinese medicine, and set up a leadership group for quality supervision of traditional Chinese medicine slices headed by the dean and party secretary. Three vice deans are responsible for quality monitoring, price control, and drug testing.

Today, Zuo Guoqing, who took the lead in formulating these measures, has been investigated for suspected serious violations of discipline and law, and Wang Shoufu, the former party secretary and vice dean of Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, who worked with him, was dismissed three years ago. The notice shows that Wang Shoufu participated in superstitious activities, engaged in money and sex transactions, and used his position to seek benefits for others in drug sales, project contracting, job adjustments, etc.

Currently, Zuo Guoqing is undergoing disciplinary review and supervision investigation by the Chongqing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision. The last time he was widely reported by the media was when he urgently treated a patient with sudden angina pectoris on the high-speed rail.

In June this year, Chongqing Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital issued a notice to collect clues from the public on unhealthy practices and corruption, and disclosed the reporting methods. On October 20, the Chongqing Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision issued a document stating that it will take multiple measures to strengthen supervision over "top leaders" and urge the "key minority" to perform their duties and exercise their power honestly. Based on inspections, letters and visits, case investigations, etc., a special assessment will be conducted on the supervision of the city's "top leaders" and leadership teams.

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