On Wednesday June 26th, David, Kristi, Cathy, and I took a trip from the Hong Kong CMF office to visit the Guangzhou Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Guangdong Province. It was a very long day, but an incredible one at that. We met at the Hung Hom train station at 8:30 that morning in order to catch our 9:30 train. Below is a photo of us waiting at the train station.
It was a two-hour train ride and upon our arrival, four members of the medical team from the hospital met us with a large van. After managing to fight our way through the desperate and persistent taxi drivers waiting at the arrival gate, we headed towards the hospital. We enjoyed a large and fancy Chinese lunch in one of the hospital’s cafeteria special rooms (for the medical staff of the hospital) where we ate with some of the doctors in the neonatal department. Most of the doctors’ spoke Mandarin and Cantonese for the majority of the time, of which I understood very little. After lunch we headed back to the van to visit one of the older buildings of the hospital, located on the other side of the city. We first saw their baby ambulances, equipped with the adequate equipment, and then headed up to the NICU. I was very surprised to find how nice the NICU was; the equipment was all new, the ward very modern, and the hall extremely well staffed. David and Kristi were also surprised, and exclaimed how it had been the one of the nicest they had seen as well (when David and Kristi say anything of the sort, you know it must mean something). Below are photos of the baby ambulances, well-equipped NICU, and a group photo.
We then returned to the main, newer building where we visited the NICU and the PICU. Both were extremely well equipped and modern as well. All the nurses and doctors we talked with were the best in their field and their extensive knowledge was evident. We also visited the training center that was located across the street. The center was, again, extremely nice, modern, and well equipped. Some of the training equipment the hospital was in hold of was the most advanced and up-to-date (there were these dummies that had all the functions of real life for training health professionals). After making our rounds of the different rooms, CMF (namely David) presented what the organization did, and what they were looking to do in partnership with the hospital. Below are photos of some of the training equipment and the hospital from the outside.
We headed back to the Guangzhou train station at around 4:30, and enjoyed a bit of Häagen-Dazs on the train ride back (important details). Overall, the day was an amazing experience and the Guangzhou Hospital definitely made its impression on all of us. I’m so lucky and thankful for CMF to have given me this amazing experience.
Rose Gold- Crystal Springs Uplands School, Summer Intern