Huzhou No 1 People's Hospital in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province is upgraded to being a grade A tertiary hospital, the highest level in the nation's three-tier grading system for hospitals. [Photo/hz66.com]

Huzhou No 1 People's Hospital has been upgraded to being a grade A tertiary hospital, the highest level in the nation's three-tier grading system for hospitals, according to a notice recently released by the Zhejiang provincial health commission.

Huzhou is now home to five grade A tertiary hospitals.

Founded in 1923, Huzhou No 1 People's Hospital became the first affiliated hospital of Huzhou University in 2010.

It receives more than 1 million outpatient and emergency visits annually and has 900 beds in total.

The hospital is a State-level standardized training base for resident doctors and a national demonstration unit for traditional Chinese medicine work.

Huzhou has been ranked first in Zhejiang for three years in a row in the provincial appraisal for public hospital reforms.

It has been taking a leading role in China in aspects like allowing emergency treatment before payment and switching from photographic film to digital ones in imaging examinations.

The city has also become the first city nationwide to initiate a campaign to facilitate digitalization in the healthcare sector.

The outpatient department of Huzhou No 1 People's Hospital. [Photo/hz66.com]