This is the largest medical center in Heilongjiang Province, with 4,398 beds and 908 staff with senior and associate senior professional titles. It collaborates with more than 90 hospitals within and outside of the province, as well as with neighboring countries and regions.685 Its general surgery department is a national key discipline (a fostered discipline). Among its 76 physicians, 82% hold doctoral degrees. There are 7 doctoral advisors and 18 full or associate professors.
The institute is the only hospital in Heilongjiang Province approved to carry out liver transplants. It is known to be the best in the world in allogeneic spleen, hand, and arm transplants. Its liver, pancreas, intestine, and cornea transplantation takes a leading role in China.686 Surgical discipline leader Jiang Hongchi is a well-known liver and pancreatic surgeon in China.
The Ophthalmic Hospital affiliated with the First Hospital of Harbin Medical University was one of the earliest ophthalmic disciplines in the field of corneal transplantation. It claims to be at an advanced level in the country and at a leading position in the province. It houses the Heilongjiang provincial eye bank. It currently has more than 180 professional and technical personnel, including more than 90 physicians and 94 nurses and technicians, among whom 51 have senior professional titles, 56 have mid-level titles, 39 have doctoral degrees, and 42 have master’s degrees. This hospital has 229 beds. It treats 190,000 patients and conducts more than 10,000 surgeries each year.687
The president of the Ophthalmic Hospital is Professor Liu Ping, a doctoral advisor and an expert enjoying special allowances from the State Council. He also serves as the director of the Heilongjiang Province Eye Bank and the Key Laboratory of the Harbin Medical University Eye Center. He led the formation of the eye bank and delivered multiple technical innovations in corneal transplantation and preservation that lead the field domestically.688 The eye bank was established in 1999 but received only one donation in its first five years of operation. Liu Ping said, “We have to find alternative sources of corneas to use for our transplants.”
In recent years, Liu has received funding for three projects under the National Natural Science Foundation, one sub-project under the national Eleventh Five-Year Program, one under the Department of International Cooperation, and eight provincial research projects. He has won more than 20 New Technology Achievement Awards. He has published six books and more than 200 papers in core journals at home and abroad, including over 30 SCI papers.