China’s economy continues to decline as a wave of hospital closures spreads. Recently, Tianhu Hospital in Leping City, Jiangxi Province, issued a notice announcing the termination of all employees.
On March 31, Leping Tianhu Hospital issued a notice terminating all employees. The circulated notice stated that due to adjustments in medical insurance policies, the medical insurance department will no longer sign medical insurance designated service agreements with the hospital starting from April 1. Therefore, the hospital will no longer enjoy the related policies and will cease all medical services related to medical insurance. Starting from April 1, the hospital terminated labor contracts/service relationships with all employees, resulting in the dismissal of all staff.
It is understood that Tianhu Hospital was established in 2015 as a second-class comprehensive private hospital with 315 employees. Since March 2025, the business volume has been continuously decreasing, leading to financial difficulties and delayed payment of employee salaries. Furthermore, allegations of violation of medical insurance fund supervision regulations have led to investigations of relevant personnel.
On April 2, an informant told mainland media Great Wind News that since last year, the hospital’s business volume has been steadily declining, with some doctors leaving gradually while others continue to work. The hospital’s financial struggles have resulted in healthcare workers only receiving basic salaries without other bonuses or on-call payments.
A doctor on duty mentioned that currently, some departments in the hospital’s outpatient section are still operating, conducting only medical examinations without admitting patients. Due to violations of medical insurance regulations and the loss of designated qualification, the inpatient department of the hospital has ceased operation.
In recent years, various viruses have spread in China, causing overcrowding in top-tier hospitals across the country. While medical resources are stretched thin, many small and medium-sized hospitals are facing bankruptcy and closure, including public hospitals, sparking concerns.
According to data from the Chinese Hospital Association, on average, 1.4 private hospitals closed daily in 2024, with an average single-hospital loss reaching up to 5.53 million yuan. In 2025, the wave of closures for private hospitals intensified, with about 1247 private hospitals closing within just six months of the year. Calculated over 180 days, an average of around 6.9 hospitals closed daily.
Some “star hospitals,” which had invested billions, also fell into bankruptcy. Hospitals like Shenzhen Ren’ai Hospital, Chengdu West Combined Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, and Beijing Merrie Orthopedic Hospital shut down consecutively. Mianyang Kaiyuan Hospital, Changsha Nanya Hospital, and Nanjing Jiangning Yuecheng Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital entered bankruptcy restructuring one after another. After the bankruptcy announcement of Lusinan Hospital, which had been invested with 2 billion yuan, it left behind a massive debt of 1.26 billion yuan and 600 employees owed eight months’ worth of wages.
Reports of salary arrears have also emerged in public hospitals in various regions. For example, after enduring 10 months of salary arrears, the affiliated hospital of Jiaying Medical College in Meizhou City, a municipal comprehensive second-class hospital, announced its closure in October 2024, leading to staff layoffs. Healthcare workers at public hospitals like Shanwei People’s Hospital in Guangdong and Xinxiang Fourth People’s Hospital in Henan staged collective salary protests due to long-term salary delays.
Dr. Zhang from Heilongjiang revealed to New Tang Dynasty TV that three years of pandemic control measures emptied the medical insurance fund, reducing insurance reimbursements and hospital revenues. Large hospitals with a high patient volume experienced significant losses, while small towns and rural hospitals with severe population outflows closed due to insufficient patient numbers.