China vows to boost development of public hospitals to meet people’s increasing demands for medical services and prevent major epidemics and public health emergencies, said a circular issued by the General Office of the State Council on June 4.

A high-quality development system for public hospitals should be built, it said, urging efforts to forge advanced hospitals at national and provincial levels and create a leading role for public hospitals in the city healthcare system.

City-level Grade III hospitals should increase assistance to county-level hospitals, which play a key role in the medical community within the county, it added.

Also, a tiered system for treatment during major epidemics should be built and improved.

To guide high-quality development of public hospitals, intensified efforts should be made to strengthen the construction of clinical specialties, promote innovation in medical technologies and medical service modes, and let information technologies play a bigger role.

The operation and management system of public hospitals should be perfected, with improvements in comprehensive budget management, internal control system, and performance evaluation by patients.

To stimulate high-quality development of public hospitals, the circular called on efforts to reform the personnel management and salary distribution system, and improve the system of evaluating and cultivating medical workers. The pricing of medical services and payment methods of medical insurance should also be reformed.