The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Zhejiang University is a Class C, Grade One hospital and ranks among the nation’s top 100 hospitals. It serves as the center for medical care, teaching, research and health consultation and guidance in Zhejiang Province. It was established on November 1, 1947 by Mr. Zhu Kezhen, then president of Zhejiang University, and was originally named the Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Zhejiang University (Zheda Hospital in short). In 1952, it was renamed the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Medical College. In 1960, it was renamed the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Medical University. In September 1999, the hospital began to use its current name. It is also known as Zhejiang Provincial First Hospital.

The hospital sits in an area of 9.9 hectares with a total floor space of 215,000 square meters. It employs more than 3,000 people, including more than 390 medical and nursing specialists with senior degrees. The hospital has 2,200 beds, 41 clinical departments, and 23 technical departments.  Annually, it approximately takes care of two million outpatients, treats 45,000 inpatients, and performs 22,000 operations. The hospital is also home to a national key laboratory of diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, a Ministry of Health’s key laboratory of multiple organ transplantation, a national base for clinical research of pharmaceuticals, a national grade three laboratory  (molecular biology laboratory) for TCM pharmaceuticals as well as the  provincial key laboratory for organ transplantation, the provincial organ transplantation center, the provincial center for nuclear medicine, the provincial center for ADR monitoring, the provincial center for poison emergency, prevention and treatment, and the provincial nursing center.

The hospital is now equipped with 500-million-worth advanced medical instruments such as PET/CT, cyclotron, medical linear accelerator, MSCT, ECT, 3.0T-SGR MR, DSA, color Doppler ultrasonic, ultrasonic surgical instruments, high-intensity focus ultrasonic system, auto biochemical analysis instrument, four-in-one YAG Laser, central monitor system, artificial liver support system, radio frequency ablation therapeutic instrument, various types of blood purification instruments, flow cytometry and high-performance liquid chromatography.

The hospital is distinguished in diagnosis, treatment and clinical research of diseases in extensive fields. The Department of Infectious Diseases is known for clinical and laboratory diagnosis of infectious diseases, applications of antibiotics and diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis. Of various achievements, the artificial liver supported therapy for treating severe hepatitis and the establishment and practical researches of infectious microecology attained a National Science and Technology Progress Award (II) and a Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award (I). The Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery leads the country in comprehensive treatment of liver cancer, pancreas cancer, portal hypertension, and acute hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis. Since the first successful liver transplantation in 1993, the department has succeeded in simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation, simultaneous hepatorenal transplantation, living donor liver transplantation and living right hemihepatic transplantation. Up to today, the department is a national and international leader in liver transplantation, for it has performed more than 610 liver transplantations. Of various honors the department has won, the clinical study of simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation was granted the National Science and Technology Progress Award (II) and the Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award (I). The application research projects for simultaneous hepatorenal transplantation and orthotopic liver transplantation and the new technical research and clinical application studies of living donor liver transplantation won the Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award (I). The Department of Hematology leads the country in treating various types of leukemia with comprehensive therapies. In 1994, the department succeeded in related allogenic bone marrow transplantation and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. November 1998 witnessed the province’s firs success of non-related allogenic bone marrow transplantation at the department. So far, more than 350 hematopoietic stem cell transplantations have been performed, including over 170 non-related transplantations. The Center of Kidney  Diseases has performed over 2,300 kidney transplantations since the first successful kidney transplantation in 1977. The department is the winner of the Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award (I). The Department of Cardiology led the province in introducing interventional diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases. The department leads the country in treating cardiac arrhythmia with radiofrequency ablation. The Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery is distinguished for heart valve replacement, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. It enjoys a national reputation for the high success rate in performing open-heart surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass. In recent years, the department has adopted various minimally invasive surgeries and succeeded in heart transplantation and simultaneous heart and lung transplantation. The Department of Urology has distinguished itself in diagnosing and treating urinary tumors and conducting clinical andrology researches as well as treating urinary calculi with extracorporeal lithotripsy. The Department of Gastroenterology enjoys a high reputation for treating digestive diseases with endoscope as well as diagnosing and treating early gastric cancer. The Department of Anorectal Surgery is known for surgical treatment of recurrent colonic carcinoma, applications of enterostomy and colostomy as well as diagnosis and treatment of internal and external piles. The Center of Stomatology has distinguished itself in diagnosing and treating oral and maxillofacial tumor, reconstructing maxillofacial defects and installing endosteal implants.

Our hospital attaches great importance to training competitive people and strengthening disciplinary buildup. At present, we grant doctorate degrees in 17 disciplines and master’s degrees in 28 disciplines. Two academicians of the China Academy of Engineering work at our hospital. We also have seven research institutes. The disciplines at our hospital include two national key disciplines (infectious diseases and general surgery), four provincial key disciplines (medicine, surgery, oncology and clinical stomatology), and one provincial key medical subject group (organ transplantation), seventeen provincial key medical disciplines (hepatopancreatobiliary surgery, hematology, urology, nephrology, cardiology, clinical and medical gene engineering, gastroenterology, infectious microecology, medical tissue engineering, psychiatry and mental hygienics, respiratory medicine, critical care medicine, otolaryngology, family planning, imaging medicine, oral and maxillofacial surgery, clinical pathology) and eight provincial key TCM disciplines (transplantation immunology based on integrated western and traditional Chinese medicine, epidemiology based on integrated western and traditional Chinese medicine, nephrology based on integrated western and traditional Chinese medicine, gastroenterology based on integrated western and traditional Chinese medicine, oncology based on integrated western and traditional Chinese medicine, cardiovascular medicine based on integrated western and traditional Chinese medicine, research on cerebrovascular diseases for the elders based on integrated western and traditional Chinese medicine, pharmacology and clinical pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine). The hospital is also home to two experimental bases for national continuous medical education and twenty-six training bases for specialists designated by the Ministry of Health. The hospital teaches more than 400 postgraduates and more than 150 Ph.D. candidates every year and is responsible for postdoctoral research. Ours also serves as a teaching hospital for medical undergraduates from Zhejiang University to learn clinical medicine. Every year, our hospital hosts nearly 30 national continuous medical education programs with more than 3,000 participants.

Research at the hospital is quite successful. So far, the hospital has won four National Science and Technology Progress Awards (II) and thirteen Zhejiang Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards (I). Over the past five years, two chief scientists of the State 973 Project (a national key development project for basic research) sponsored and participated in three sub-research programs of the State 973 Project. The hospital has hosted or participated in ten programs in the State 863 Project (a national development project for high and new technology research), six programs in the state 10th Five Year Plan Science and Technology Breakthrough Project, and two support programs for the state 11th Five-Year Plan. The hospital also hosts 64 research programs financed by the National Natural Sciences Foundation, with three key research programs included the Development Program for Cheung Kong Scholars and Innovation Scientists hosted by the Ministry of Education. The hospital has ranked among the country’s top ten hospitals in the terms of the quantity of published research papers included in the Chinese Medical SCI for three consecutive years. In 2004, the hospital ranked third in this category.

The hospital follows the principle of “adhering to the way of seeking truth in the strict sense of science, building up the hospital through science and technology, providing standardized services, and improving management for efficiency”. For the past 6 decades, the hospital has received such honors as provincial model hospital and municipal model hospital, model unit of the national healthcare system, model unit for cultural improvement of the national healthcare system. And the presidents have been honored as national excellent hospital presidents and national model workers.