A Zhuhai-style senior service network that coordinates home, community, and facility care, and combines medical care with health preservation has taken shape to serve a population of 195,200 citizens aged 60 and over. 

City officials announced Nov 2 that as of June this year senior citizens accounted for 13.52 percent of permanent residents, increasing demand for elderly care. In response, policy, service supply and guarantee, and supervision systems have been instituted and care facilities have been expanded.

The city now provides free door-to-door services for qualified elderly citizens who need assistance at costs of from 200 yuan ($31) to 500 yuan ($78). To make life easier and safer for the elderly, the first 286 households in extreme poverty have been renovated, according to Luo Bu of the Zhuhai Civil Affairs Bureau.

Press conference [Photo by Liu Jiacheng / Zhuhai Media Group]

Zhuhai currently has 6,873 beds for elderly care, or 36 beds for every 1,000 Zhuhai seniors. The city will promote construction of municipal and district-level public care institutions during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). Over 3,900 all-inclusive beds will be provided and over 55 percent of them will be nursing beds.

The elderly service institution project in Nanping, Zhuhai's first elderly care complex integrating medical care with health preservation, will be completed by year end. It will offer better service with 1,100 beds for old-age residents. 

Technological support for senior care and supervision has been available since the debut of a "smart" information platform in August 2020 for the handling of old-age care affairs online. In addition, a multi-level system encompassing basic and supplementary medical insurances, charitable aid, and medical assistance has been established and 2.06 million people are covered with basic medical insurance.

The city has China's first municipal medial insurance cloud platform, which included 15 designated medical intuitions and 310 retail pharmacies as of August. A total of 11,807 orders worth 55.98 million yuan ($8.75 million) have been prescribed, according to Wang Tongxing of the Zhuhai Healthcare Security Bureau.

The province's new leading medical insurance system is under pilot operation at Zhuhai Women's & Children's Hospital. It allows for contactless payments within the general credit limit, benefiting 507 local users as of October. One Grade 3 and one Grade 2 hospitals will join the program by the end of this year. The model will be promoted citywide in 2022.