Recently, there has been an expose on the Central Hospital of Tongchuan Mining Bureau in Shaanxi Province, where medical staff are allegedly involved in conspiring to switch newborn babies, falsifying medical records, and issuing birth medical certificates.
According to a report from Chao News on March 12th, volunteer anti-trafficking activist Shang Guanzheng revealed on the 10th that in August 2017, a woman named Cheng underwent a late-term abortion at the Maternity Department of Tongchuan Mining Bureau Central Hospital, with surgery scheduled for August 9th. However, it was suspected that “the doctor may have switched the medication intended for abortion with medication to induce labor.” Around 2 p.m. on August 9th, Cheng successfully gave birth to a baby girl.
What struck Shang Guanzheng as “coincidental” was that on the same day of the surgery, the then Director of the Maternity Department at the Tongchuan Mining Bureau Central Hospital, Pei, instructed Dr. Li to admit the daughter of former colleague Zou, named Cheng, under false medical records, and later at around 6:45 p.m. on the same day, she gave birth to another baby girl.
“Many obstetricians and nurses did not actually see Cheng at the hospital at that time,” Shang Guanzheng said. “From what I understand, Cheng’s child is actually the one born to Cheng, her family took the baby away, and on August 10th, they completed the discharge process. The head nurse at the time even issued a legitimate birth medical certificate for this child.”
Shang Guanzheng stated that the actions of the medical staff at the time, including Pei, Li, and the head nurse, seriously violated medical ethics and amounted to breaking the law.
On March 11th, a reporter from Chao News followed Shang Guanzheng to the Tongchuan Mining Bureau Central Hospital. Medical staff at the hospital revealed that both Pei and Li had retired, with Li being rehired by the hospital and still working there.
Under repeated questioning from Shang Guanzheng, Li appeared nervous, repeatedly stating, “It’s been too long,” “I’ve forgotten,” “If you have evidence, go to the higher authorities.”
The office head responsible for medical disputes at the hospital responded by saying that the hospital was aware of the incident, and that the public security authorities and health department had already been involved in investigating the matter. As for why Li was still working at the outpatient clinic, the official said, “The specific situation is being handled by the public security authorities and the health department. We have not received any notification yet, so we cannot provide any explanations.”
Liu, the head of the Tongchuan Health Commission, stated that the matter is currently being handled.
After the incident was exposed, on March 12th, the topic of “Tongchuan hospital accused of baby swapping” surged to the top of the trending list on Weibo.
Public information shows that the Central Hospital of Tongchuan Mining Bureau is located in Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province, established in 1953, and is a tertiary A-grade comprehensive hospital.
In an interview with Southern Weekend in 2024, Shang Guanzheng stated, “Before, I had only heard about medical personnel being involved in illegal activities such as trafficking children and falsifying birth medical certificates, but this year I have encountered more cases of such medical staff. In other words, this phenomenon has evolved from involvement by intermediaries and traffickers in society to now include medical staff in medical institutions. The fact that this occurs even in public hospitals is very shocking to me.”