U.S. Shanghai Consul General Visits Shanghai Children’s Medical Center

Hanscom Smith, the U.S. Consul General of Shanghai, and Vice Consul Bradford Milklavic visited Shanghai Children’s Medical Center (SCMC) in November. SCMC President Jiang Zhongyi and Project HOPE Shanghai program director Lily Hsu along with program manager Tracy Huang greeted the two consuls at the cardiac tower.

Zhongyi welcomed the Consul General and his associates, and shared information on the development and future direction of SCMC. The center plans to expand to more than 1,000 beds by 2019 after completion of the Medical Comprehensive Tower.

Supported by Project HOPE, SCMC has become one of the leading children’s health care institutions in China. Zhongyi expressed his appreciation.

U.S. Consul General Smith recalled his first visit to SCMC in 2014. During that visit he was with the U.S. Ambassador to China announcing the 2015 award of $950,000 from the USAID American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program to Project HOPE which was used to support the growth of SCMC.

U.S. Ambassadors to China, Gary Locke and Max Baucus, emphasized the important role of the relationship of SCMC with U.S. leading pediatric care institutions in setting an excellent example for U.S.-to-China, People-to-People collaboration. They noted that SCMC is a model of cooperation and communication in the health sector between China and the United States.

The Consul General and his team also visited the Translational Research Center at SCMC and met Dr. Zhou, head of the center, along with an American scientist renowned in pediatric hematology research.

The team was able to see the successful implementation of USAID-ASHA supported pieces of equipment that were installed at the laboratory – closing the visit with confidence in the hospital’s future development.