The Health Commission of Hubei Province issued a notice on the establishment of the Hubei Provincial Center of Gerontology at Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology (Tongji Hospital). The center will actively respond to the aging of the population, play a leading role in leading and radiating high-quality medical resources in the field of geriatrics, and promote the development of the geriatrics industry in Hubei Province in the new era.

Tongji Hospital will assume the responsibility of building the Hubei Provincial Center of Gerontology, where it will organize the diagnosis and treatment of difficult and critical geriatric diseases, demonstrate and promote appropriate and effective diagnosis and treatment techniques, cover and lead the development of geriatrics and related medical service capacity enhancement in Hubei. To this end, Tongji Hospital will take the following measures: strengthen the training of geriatrics backbone talents to develop a geriatrics talent team; promote the clinical transformation research of geriatrics to boost the transformation, clinical application, and effective promotion of domestic and foreign clinical research results; integrated with existing resources, strengthen geriatric health science and education, carry out geriatric disease prevention and health care services, and promote academic exchanges and collaboration to establish a comprehensive and continuous, geriatric health service system covering urban and rural areas across Hubei.

Hubei Provincial Center of Gerontology will gradually develop itself into a provincial-level specialized institution of geriatrics with seven functions: medical care, nursing, scientific research, teaching, prevention, management, and policy formulation, which will effectively undertake the major task of leading and promoting the high-quality development of geriatrics in Hubei.

Founded in the 1950s, the Department of General Medicine/Geriatrics of Tongji Hospital was one of the first geriatric specialized departments established in a comprehensive hospital in China, integrating medical treatment, research, teaching, and preventive care. The doctors in this department have excellent medical technology, quality medical services, and significant research advantages. The core group of the department is headed by Prof. Zhang Cuntai, the chairman-elect of the Chinese Medical Association Geriatrics Branch. After years of efforts, the department has been ranked among the top in the field of geriatrics in Hubei Province and South Central China, and occupies an important position in the field of geriatrics in China, ranking fourth in the national ranking of geriatrics by Fudan University.

According to Zhang Cuntai, the Department of General Medicine/Geriatrics of Tongji Hospital is capable of developing the Hubei Provincial Center of Gerontology and will contribute to the development of geriatrics in Hubei Province.