An ex-president general of a prestigious hospital in Yunnan province, China has been tried today amid allegations of bribery and corruption. The accused is said to have abused his position while in charge of affairs at the hospital, accepting an estimated 116-million-yuan ($17.5 million) bribes in property, and a total of $80,000 in cash.
Image: Wang Tianchao
A Report from China Daily confirms Wang Tianchao who was the head at #1 People’s Hospital in Yunnan, stood trial for mismanagement of funds allocated for infrastructure development at the hospital.
The 59-year-old was involved in illegal deals on procurement of construction materials, contract awards for drugs procurement, promotions, and job placements between 2004 and 2014.
According to the report, his court trial which ended Thursday was held in Pu’er Intermediate People’s Court.
A court judgement will be announced later.
Wang’s court case–adjudged to be the biggest healthcare corruption probe–shot to spotlight as one of the major public service bribery scandals to have hit the country in recent years.
People from all walks of life have shown keen interest in the trials. Reports confirm that representatives from various sectors, including media, local legislators, local political advisers and members of the general public were present at the court hearing today.
The accused was known as the “double hundred” hospital president because he was said to have accepted bribes in large amounts, including 100 apartments and 100 parking lots.
Investigations on Wang’s alleged corrupt acquisitions started last year.
During his trial, the accused was charged with 15 counts of corruption, including accepting 100 apartments from a real estate developer in Kunhuayuan residential building in Kunming.
According to an employee nurse at the hospital with the surname Li, the revelation on Mr Wang’s corrupt behavior will remain a huge stain on the hospital’s image.
“How to make money for himself is at the top of Wang’s mind. How can such a person be qualified to be the head of the hospital?” she said.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission launched a crackdown on corruption in the public health sector in February last year and announced that it will look into 41 hospitals in the next three years.
In a plan rolled out by the commission, each of these hospitals is required to set up a whistle-blower mailbox for clients to file complaints about the misconduct of medical staff. The commission pledged to spend at least five days to check the performance of each hospital, the report reveals.
Liu Yong, director of the commission’s division overseeing the country’s hospitals, said: “The investigations will cover a wide range of issues, including the pharmaceutical business relating to hospitals, kickbacks in purchasing medicines by hospitals and misconduct in procurement.”
“The medical performance of doctors will be a key area in the inspections,” Liu said.
