Formerly known as the PLA No. 177 Central Hospital, this comprehensive hospital combines medical care, emergency treatment, education, research, prevention, and rehabilitation under one roof. It has 1,500 beds and over 400 postdoctoral fellows, PhDs, Master’s degree holders, and senior professionals.369
The hospital’s organ transplant division was established in July 1999. It ranked among the top 10 in a comprehensive score based on kidney transplant data stored in the national organ transplant registry.370 The hospital’s website states that it has 31 medical staff, including 10 surgeons and 35 beds in its transplantation ward.
Liu Dong, a chief physician, is the director of the Division. He obtained his PhD from Sun Yat-sen University under Professor Zheng Keli, a well-known organ transplant specialist in China. Zheng’s webpage states that he has overseen over 3,000 kidney transplants.371 372
In October 2015, the webpage of Organ Transplant Division stated that Director Liu himself has participated in more than 2,000 kidney and liver transplant operations, 373 including as chief surgeon in over 800 renal transplants from cadaver donors, and more than 20 cadaveric liver transplants. 374
The same website claims the Organ Transplant Division has completed more than 1,000 transplant surgeries since 1999. This volume, about 100 cases per year, on average, does not match the staffing level and ward configuration in this division. Conducting 100 cases per year only needs fewer than 10 beds and far fewer surgeons, but the division claims to have 35 beds and 10 surgeons, among whom 8 hold senior and associate senior professional titles. The volume of claimed transplantation is also inconsistent with ranking among the top 10 in a comprehensive score based on kidney transplant data stored in the national organ transplant registry.
The actual volume of transplantation can be revealed from an investigation in 2006.
In 2006, deputy director Wu Jiaqing said that before August 3, an average of over 10 organ transplants were performed there every day, and that 6 transplants were carried out on August 4;375 between July and August, the Division received transplant patients from 8 to 9 countries, including Singapore, Cambodia, and France. This information was relayed by an insider to Minghui.org.
In October 2015, the web page of the Organ Transplant Division showed that the unit has 4 chief surgeons, 4 associate chief surgeons, 4 PhDs, and 2 Master’s degree holders. 376 377
Liu Dong, director of Organ Transplant Division, co-edited Clinical Kidney Transplant and published more than 40 academic papers in national and international journals. 378
Wu Jiaqing, the chief surgeon and associate director of the Organ Transplant Division, is a standing member of the Chinese Medical Association and a member of the Guangzhou Organ Transplant Subcommittee. He has 20 years of experience in kidney transplantation and urology surgery. He led one research project supported by a scientific research foundation of Guangdong Province, and led another research project supported by the natural science foundation of Guangdong. He has published more than 10 papers in core medical journals.
Zheng Keli, chief surgeon, is the former director of the urology surgery department, former director of the surgical department, former executive vice president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, former president of Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, and former associate director of the Guangdong Organ Transplantation Association. He currently works at the Second Affiliated People’s Hospital of Guangdong. Zheng invented the testing of extracorporeal circulation which prohibited hyperacute rejection after transplantation. Treatment after kidney transplant surgery has reached international advanced level.
Li Cheng, a chief surgeon, participated in the planning and establishment of the hospital’s organ transplant department in 1999. He led and was involved in more than 10 national and provincial research projects on organ transplantation, co-edited 3 books, and published more than 20 papers in national and provincial core journals. 379