Dr. Jian Zhang, CEO of Chinese Hospital, the only one in the United States and one of San Francisco’s critical healthcare providers, is one of 230 distinguished nurse leaders from around the globe selected by the American Academy of Nursing (Academy) to join the 2020 Class of Fellows. Dr. Zhang will be recognized for her significant contributions to health care at the Academy’s annual Transforming Health, Driving Policy Conference, taking place virtually October 29-31, 2020. Through a competitive and rigorous process, the new fellows are selected based on their impressive contributions to healthcare by a committee of elected Fellows.

“I am humbled by the Academy’s selection and recognition,” said Jian Zhang, CEO, Chinese Hospital. “I believe an Academy fellow has a responsibility to engage with nursing leaders to advance nursing as a profession; collaborate with other healthcare leaders and lead the transformation of America’s health system.”

“I am honored to welcome this exceptional class to the American Academy of Nursing. Their work, across many fields of expertise, exemplifies the power of nursing knowledge in creating meaningful change,” said Academy President Eileen Sullivan-Marx, PhD, RN, FAAN. “As a policy organization, we strive to improve health and achieve health equity through nursing leadership, innovation, and science. Growing the Academy’s Fellowship bolsters our collective strength and further enables us to meet our policy priorities. Now, more than ever, our collaboration is critical and I am excited to congratulate this dynamic class of Fellows during the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.”

“Dr. Zhang is the quintessential nursing leader and healthcare executive who has had a significant and sustained impact on practice, policy, research, and education,” said Judith Karshmer, Dean and Professor of Arizona State University, Edson College of Nursing, “I highly recommended her as a Fellow of AAN. I have worked closely with Dr. Zhang for over 10 years, initially as a student in the Executive Leadership DNP program at USF and subsequently as a colleague and partnership advancing an international initiative with nursing programs in China.”

“Dr. Zhang has demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions in clinical practice, research, and policy by advancing one of the largest health care systems for low-income Asian immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area and by strengthening the nursing care and education system in both the US and China,” said Jyulin Chen, Department Chair and Professor at UCSF, School of Nursing. “Dr. Zhang and I have been working on education curriculum development and nursing research projects focused on decreasing health disparities in obesity and breast cancer in Asian Immigrants. I strongly believe she will be a valued asset to the Academy.”

“On behalf of the Chinese Hospital Board of Trustees, I want to congratulate Dr. Zhang for being selected as a Fellow by the American Academy of Nursing,” said Kitman Chan, Chinese Hospital Board Chairman. “It is wonderful to have one of the 2700 FAAN fellows be the CEO of the historic Chinese Hospital, which provides high quality of care to our community.”

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The Chinese Hospital, one of San Francisco’s critical healthcare providers, is launching a pilot program to begin free testing of residents in single-room-occupancy (SRO) buildings in Chinatown, the most densely populated neighborhood in San Francisco. This first of its kind program launched today in San Francisco’s Ning Yung Benevolent Association’s SRO building, located at 41 Waverly Place.

“We are grateful for the City’s aggressive and large-scale testing efforts across San Francisco,” said Jian Zhang, CEO, Chinese Hospital. “SROs house some of the most vulnerable people of our city. Chinatown residents are overwhelmed with fear. If they leave their homes, they risk exposure to COVID-19. If they test positive, they have nowhere to isolate and fear infecting others, eviction, becoming homeless, and losing communal support. We are working with our partners to meet our communities where they are so we can prevent, trace, and limit the spread of COVID-19.”

“Since day one of the global pandemic, the City has acted quickly to confront the impacts brought by COVID-19 and protect the health of all San Franciscans,” said Mayor London N. Breed. “Sadly, our most vulnerable community members have been disproportionately impacted by this virus. We are working to expand testing to communities that have historically been underserved and need more resources, but we can’t do this work alone. That is why community health organizations and partners like the Chinese Hospital are so important. I want to thank the Chinese Hospital for their partnership and their work to provide culturally and linguistically competent services for Chinatown residents.”

“After seeing our COVID case numbers in SRO’s steadily increase for months, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved public health mandates this week that require DPH to test everyone in a SRO where a case has been confirmed,” said Supervisor Aaron Peskin. “But we know we must do much better, including performing robust contact tracing and offering affordable and culturally competent testing to asymptomatic individuals. I’m hopeful that this pilot will be scaled up quickly — our most vulnerable community members don’t have the luxury of time and every hour counts.”

“During this pandemic, we need to make sure we’re protecting everyone in our community, particularly Chinatown’s SRO residents who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 spread,” said Assemblymember David Chiu.  “We know we can keep the curve low by testing, contact tracing, quarantining and supporting those who test positive or are exposed – and this pilot is the first major step of this strategy.  I’m grateful to Chinese Hospital and our health care, community and elected leaders for partnering on this groundbreaking program – we are stronger together.”

“The San Francisco Department of Public Health is committed to working with Chinese Hospital and our community organizations to provide culturally and linguistically competent medical care to our immigrant and SRO residents in Chinatown,” said Dr. Sunny Pak, Acting Director of Chinatown Public Health Center, San Francisco Department of Public Health. “This pilot is another step the City is taking to expand our testing capacity, engage with the Chinatown community, and connect vulnerable populations with the services they need on all aspects of COVID 19.”

“We are proactively in contact with the Chinese Hospital and City agencies and sharing information about testing. We are reporting information regularly and updating our protocols in our SROs,” said Ding Lee, President of San Francisco’s Chinese Community Benevolent Association. “This is our community. SRO owners must also be diligent partners in the fight against COID-19.”

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Chinese Hospital, in collaboration with Assemblymember David Chiu and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), announces an increase in its bed capacity to combat COVID-19 pandemic.

“Chinese Hospital, a non-profit community hospital and the only one in the United States, is on the frontlines of this battle to save lives. Due to the dire and still unforeseen consequences of this national public health emergency, we are taking proactive steps to mobilize limited resources to protect our most vulnerable and diverse communities. With the assistance of Assemblymember Chiu and CDPH, we have received state approvals to license an additional 23 Acute Care Beds. These beds are located in the state-of-the-art New Patient Tower, completed in 2016, on the second floor of Chinese Hospital. Additionally, to treat more patients experiencing healthcare emergencies faster, Chinese Hospital has received a change in its status from Standby Emergency Medical Service to Basic Emergency Medical Service,” stated Dr. Jian Zhang, CEO, Chinese Hospital.

Assemblymember David Chiu, who represents Chinese Hospital’s main campus, was instrumental in expediting the state’s recent licensing approvals: “For over a century, Chinese Hospital has provided critical care to save the lives of many generations of San Franciscans and Californians. I’m thrilled that Chinese Hospital has received the necessary approvals to expand its care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thank the hospital’s leadership, state and local health officials for their partnership.”

The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), working closely with its hospital partners, including Chinese Hospital, has orchestrated the citywide response to mitigate the dramatic impact of COVID-19. “Chinese Hospital has collaborated closely with SFDPH and our other partners to increase bed capacity, enhance preparedness, and focus limited resources on the COVID-19 patients who need it most. Chinese Hospital is there when we need them most,” stated Greg Wagner, Chief Financial Officer of SFDPH.

The preparation for the anticipated increase in patients and services, is very costly. Chinese Hospital has hired additional nurses and other healthcare staff. With community support, the Hospital’s medical infrastructure has been expanded and improved. “The entire community is now engaged in fundraising efforts to ensure a fully operational community hospital to meet the needs of all San Franciscans,” stated Kitman Chan, Trustee, Chinese Hospital and Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

“I want to thank our dedicated and courageous providers and staff, management team, community partners, donors, and elected officials for their sacrifices and around-the-clock efforts to fight and contain COVID-19. Working together, I am confident we will get through this crisis,” said Dr. Zhang.

For more information on how to donate necessary funds or supplies, please call 1-415-677-2470 or visit
www.chinesehospital-sf.org/covid19-fund

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The Installation Ceremony of the Chinese Hospital Board of Trustees 2020 was held at San Francisco’s Chinatown on January 28, 2020. Chinese Hospital has served the San Francisco community for more than 120 years and it is always looking for opportunities to improve the quality of its healthcare services to meet the ever-changing needs of the community. The board aims to offer access to quality health care cost-effectively to all socioeconomic levels in an ethnically and culturally appropriate way.

This ceremony over a lunch banquet was well attended by civic and business leaders of the city along with Board predecessors, and the senior management team from Chinese Hospital and Chinese Community Health Plan. Together, they gave the warmest welcome to the Medical Staff and the new Board.

 Mr. George Lew, President of the Board of Trustees 2019, reported the progress of the major developments during his tenure. 

With the aim of providing more comprehensive services to the community and building a better and healthy community, in 2019 the hospital “has developed and implemented a comprehensive turnaround plan and worked persistently to secure the $30 million CleanFund to create new services.” In addition, Chinese Hospital has taken the lead in bringing new technology to the community. “Last July, we had the first HIFU service for prostate cancer completed in the hospital with a good outcome.” Furthermore, as we have worked very hard on controlling our costs, Chinese Hospital “achieved a positive EBITDA of $2.95 million” in 2019. We are also honored to receive a 5-star rating from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid in 2019.

At the end of the speech, Mr. Lew expressed his sincere gratitude to all the donors for their generous support, “I want to thank all the supporters and donors for their generous donation and using our services. Because of your support, Chinese Hospital raised over $3 million through fundraising activities.”

Mr. Mel Lee, President of the Board of Trustees 2020, has been serving on the Board for years. Speaking at the ceremony, he stated that to expand the scope of medical services for the community, Chinese Hospital will establish cancer services and expand palliative care services. “We will continue to collaborate with the City Health System to make good use of the hospital’s space.” He also mentioned “the best way to support Chinese Hospital is to use our services and use CCHP as your insurance.”

Another key goal this year, according to Mr. Lee, is recruiting more physicians to solve the overall physician shortage issue. “We’ve made good progress in many areas. Now, we need more physicians to serve the community.” Mr. Lee urged all physicians to work together with Chinese Hospital and CCHP to strengthen the positive outcomes of the hospital’s turnaround plan. The ultimate goal is to provide better services and bring more benefits to the community and patients. 

Chinese Hospital Board of Trustees will continue to carry on and stay true to the Chinese Hospital’s mission in the coming year. They wish the community would continue to support the hospital.

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On Sunday, November 24th, San Francisco’s Chinese Hospital, and Sun Yat-sen University’s Xinhua College signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote academic collaboration between the two organizations.

Through the MOU, both organizations agreed to work collaboratively to promote academic exchanges and cooperation, provide opportunities for teachers and medical personnel-exchange programs, and facilitate training opportunities in San Francisco for outstanding nursing students at Sun Yat-sen University’s Xinhua College.

“It is a fantastic collaboration. It provides an excellent platform for our teachers and students to develop their abilities,” said Prof. Tinghuai Wang, President of Sun Yat-sen University’s Xinhua College. He also commented that this partnership provides a beneficial opportunity for their teachers and students; the educational training will not only help broaden their horizons but also improve the quality of their teaching and learning significantly.

“I’m pleased to see the partnership established and look forward to assisting students at Sun Yat-sen University’s Xinhua College to further develop their skills and capacity to become world-class professionals for the near future,” said Dr. Jian Zhang, CEO of Chinese Hospital. Furthermore, Dr. Zhang said that the partnership is a mutually beneficial relationship, where the faculty members from Sun Yat-sen University and our medical team can share their techniques and expertise, as well as help Chinese Hospital to continue hiring qualified bilingual employees, serving the needs of the community.

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Stupski Foundation awards Chinese Hospital a $600,000, 3-year grant to expand the hospital’s palliative care program to its outpatient clinics.

The current inpatient palliative care program at Chinese Hospital strives to enhance the quality of life, and reduce the suffering of patients and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses. The team at Chinese Hospital consists of hospitalists, nurses, pharmacists, clinical social workers, certified diabetes educators, and hospital leaders.

The Stupski Foundation grant will enable Chinese Hospital to initiate an outpatient palliative care program at its clinics. The palliative care team will provide comprehensive care to patients who suffer from serious illnesses such as cancer, dementia or kidney failure, and also their families.

“In addition to our inpatient palliative care program, with this grant we will be able to add an outpatient program in our hospital and clinics,” said Dr. Jian Zhang, Chinese Hospital CEO. “Our goal is to provide language and culturally appropriate palliative care programs to San Francisco’s Chinese community. We strive to enhance the quality of life and reduce the suffering of patients and their families facing the problems associated with serious illness.”

“This is our first big step in spending down all our assets, and we hope it can begin to transform how people experience end of life care in the Bay Area,” said Dan Tuttle, director of health with the Stupski Foundation. “We are grateful to have worked closely with leaders at each site to scope these grants together, building on the work they have done to date. Having their voices and experience shape this grant portfolio has been educational and humbling. We’re eager to share what we learn from the ongoing partnership to encourage other regions to apply a similar strategy.”

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Joseph Woo, MD, a highly recognized heart surgeon and leading researcher in innovative approaches to cardiovascular care, is the recipient of Chinese Hospital’s 45th Annual Award. The award was presented to him at the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae on Friday, October 11th.

Dr. Joseph Woo serves as the Norman E. Shumway Professor and the Chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Additionally, he holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Bioengineering. Dr. Woo received his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. This university is also where he conducted his postgraduate surgical training in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery, as well as a postdoctoral research fellowship developing novel molecular strategies for attenuating myocardial ischemic injury.

Dr. Woo has an active clinical practice focusing on complex cardiac valve repair, aortic surgery, cardiopulmonary transplantation, and minimally-invasive surgery. He has advanced these fields by developing several innovative operations. Dr. Woo currently runs a basic science research lab which is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Project Grant for studying stem cells, angiogenesis, tissue engineering, and biomechanics. The lab has held continuous NIH funding since 2004. Furthermore, Dr. Woo has also served as principal investigator for several clinical device trials, translational scientific clinical trials entailing administration of stem cells during coronary artery bypass grafting, and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. He has co-authored over 280 peer-reviewed publications.

Nationally, Dr. Woo has chaired several committees, including the American Heart Association, Cardiovascular Surgery and Anesthesia Council, and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Scientific Affairs and Government Relations Committee. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery who has served as a Guest Editor for Circulation. During the past five years, under his leadership, overall cardiovascular surgical clinical volume, extramural research funding, scholarly publications, and residency education programs in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine have doubled or tripled, and continue to grow significantly.About Chinese Hospital Annual Award

Since 1973, and every year thereafter, the Board of Trustees, Medical Staff and Continuing Medical Education of Chinese Hospital have sponsored a full-day event to honor an individual for outstanding contributions to healthcare in the Asian American community. The award also serves to raise awareness of important achievements in medical sciences, health education, and community leadership. Past award recipients include: Baruch Blumberg, MD (Nobel Prize recipient for the HepB antigen); David Ho, MD (Man of the Year from Time-Magazine for his research on AIDS); and Professor Lap-Chee TSUI OC, PhD, FRS, FRSC, GBM, GBS, JP (Founding President of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong).

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Chinese Hospital, the last independent community hospital in San Francisco, will host its 25th Annual Golf Tournament on Monday, October 14, 2019 at San Francisco’s world-class Olympic Club. The event will benefit the renovation project at Chinese Hospital’s 1979 building which includes moving the service-expansion project forward with same-day surgery center, gastrointestinal laboratory, multispecialty clinic, and an infusion center for chemotherapy and blood transfusion.

The charity golf tournament was founded 25 years ago by influential leaders late Mayor Edwin Lee and Rose Pak to raise funds for the hospital to provide quality care for the underserved Chinese community. Each year, over 300 golfers enjoy the Lake Course and the Ocean Course, followed by a festive cocktail reception and live auction hosted by the Honorable Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. This year’s live auction items include experiences at George Chen’s China Live, dinner presided by Mayor Brown at Kinson Wong’s Harborview Restaurant & Bar and Le Colonial, a Lake Tahoe vacation home getaway, and a VIP wine country tour on a Kings Transportation Inc. luxury bus which includes an exquisite wine and 5 course meal at Valette Healdsburg, private wine tastings, and ends at 630 Park Steakhouse at Graton Resort & Casino.

Dr. Jian Zhang, Chinese Hospital CEO, thanks all sponsors for their continued support. “The golf tournament is one of Chinese Hospital’s major fundraising events, which raised millions of dollars over the decades to build the new hospital and to upgrade medical equipment,” said Dr. Zhang. “The proceeds from the charity golf tournament will be used to renovate the 1979 hospital tower, so more new services can be added to better meet the healthcare needs of the community.”

Alongside Rose Pak and Mayor Ed Lee, Mayor Brown has been involved in this event dating back to the 1990s. Mayor Willie Brown continues to play a key role in the golf tournament and the hospital. He is now co-chair of our golf tournament with CEO Jian Zhang. “I support Chinese Hospital and everybody else should support the Chinese Hospital; I’ve been doing this for the last 25 years; every effort helps us get closer to our goals,” expressed Mayor Brown.

Mayor Lee’s wife, Anita Lee, joined the golf committee last year. “I want to carry forward my husband’s legacy and that’s why I’m serving on the golf committee,” she said.

Chinese Hospital welcomes all businesses and organizations to participate and sponsor the event. The golf tournament is recognized as one of the premiere golf tournaments in San Francisco, which features a cocktail hour and reception, awards ceremony and live auction. Cocktail/Dinner-only tickets are also available. For more information about the tournament, including online registration and sponsorships, please visit the hospital’s website at https://www.chinesehospital-sf.org/golf2019.

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Chinese Hospital was awarded an ‘A’ from The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2019 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade. The designation recognizes Chinese Hospital’s efforts in protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization committed to improving health care quality and safety for consumers and purchasers. The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to hospitals across the country based on their performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.

“This is yet another validation of our focus on quality care.” said Chinese Hospital CEO, Jian Zhang. She continued by saying, “For the past two years, we have diligently made special effort in every aspect of our hospital’s operation. From managing resources to financial management to operations in general, but, our top focus and priority is how our patients and community is cared for. The results speak for themselves.” “This is the culmination of hard work by everyone at the hospital and organization – Nurses, physicians, receptionists, the entire staff – everyone does their very best to make sure patients are our focus. I am so proud of everyone who made this possible.”

“To be recognized nationally as an ‘A’ hospital is an accomplishment the whole community should take pride in,” said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. “Hospitals that earn an ‘A’ grade are making it a priority to protect patients from preventable medical harm and error. We congratulate hospital leaders, board members, staff, volunteers and clinicians who work so hard to earn this A.”

Developed under the guidance of a national Expert Panel, the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses 28 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are free to the public.

Chinese Hospital was awarded an ‘A’ grade today, when Leapfrog announced grades for the spring 2019 update. To see Chinese Hospital’s full grade details, and to access patient tips for staying safe in the hospital, visit hospitalsafetygrade.org and follow The Leapfrog Group on Twitter and Facebook.About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog’s other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents and infections.

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Chinese Hospital marked its 120^th Anniversary with an annual gala at the San Francisco Design Center on Thursday, April 18, 2019 to celebrate 120 years of providing affordable quality care to the community.

Dr. Jian Zhang (CEO, Chinese Hospital) and Mr. George Lew (President, Chinese Hospital Board of Trustees) opened the celebration evening by thanking the many supporters, sponsors and staff in attendance.

“Chinese Hospital is extremely proud to be celebrating our 120^th anniversary; a significant milestone that very few organizations achieve. Reflecting on the long-standing history of Chinese Hospital, I would like to acknowledge our original founders for their visionary leadership in creating this culturally sensitive healthcare organization. I wish to recognize the generations of Board members, medical staff, and community leaders who fought tirelessly for the survival of Chinese Hospital during the past 120 years,” said Dr. Jian Zhang.

Dr. Jian Zhang further stated, “Our focus is to continue to improve healthcare access, quality of care, patient experience, long-term financial viability, and strengthening of our hospital culture and operational stability.”

The top donor, Mr. Arthur Chan praised the services provided at Chinese Hospital, “CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) awarded Chinese Hospital a 5-star rating, I want to add one more for the 6-star services I received lately. I continue to make donations to Chinese Hospital because I believe in the current leadership team and hardworking staff.”

Mr. Chan encourages individuals and the like to support Chinese Hospital for culturally sensitive high-quality health care is imperative to the community.

“With gratitude, I especially want to thank those who trust Chinese Hospital for their healthcare. Chinese Hospital is an iconic place to the community for healing and wellness. Thank you for supporting Chinese Hospital’s mission, and I hope everyone continues to support Chinese Hospital so we are able to serve the community for another 120 years,” said Mr. George Lew. The award ceremony in the later evening was officiated by Mayor London Breed. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Former San Francisco Mayor, Willie L. Brown Jr., for his significant achievements to San Francisco and Chinese Hospital. In addition, Chinese Hospital presented philanthropists, Mr. Arthur Chan with the Top Donor of the Year Award for his exemplary support and commitment to Chinese Hospital and creating a healthy community for generations to come.

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