Bethune International Peace Hospital

Bethune International Peace Hospital is a military Grade-A tertiary comprehensive hospital with profound historical heritage, established on November 7, 1937. Originally named the Rear Hospital of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, it was founded by the great internationalist warrior Norman Bethune who worked there personally. Over 130 international medical professionals from Canada, India, Britain, the United States, and Japan have served at the hospital, with Indian physician Dwarkanath Kotnis serving as its first director. Having survived the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Liberation War, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the hospital has successfully completed major medical support missions including fighting SARS, international peacekeeping, multinational joint exercises, and the Wuhan COVID-19 response. Covering 350,000 square meters with 52 departments and 84 specialties, the hospital employs over 1,500 medical staff including 238 senior experts and maintains over 2,000 beds with annual outpatient visits exceeding 770,000. It possesses 2 national key clinical specialties, 5 PLA medical specialty centers, 13 military region medical specialty centers, and 3 Hebei provincial key specialties. The hospital has been honored as a National Top 100 Hospital, one of the first National Model Hospitals for Patient Satisfaction, and a National Model Unit for Supporting the Government and Loving the People. It remains the only intact "Old Eighth Route Army" hospital in the PLA, carrying forward the noble legacy of Bethune's spirit. In 1974, it became the first PLA hospital opened to foreign visitors, receiving nearly 30,000 international friends from over 80 countries.