File photo: Senior residents in Nantong at a local healthcare center. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Authorities of Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province recently rolled out a three-year action plan from 2023 to 2025 to improve its grassroots healthcare service, according to a recent press conference.

According to the plan, by 2025, all the residential communities in Nantong will have health service centers that satisfy national basic standards, 80 percent of the health centers in towns will have at least one grassroots special department, and each health service center will have at least two certified doctors for mental health.

The number of grassroots healthcare workers for every 10,000 residents in the city will reach 35 and the number of public health doctors, general practitioners, and nurses for every 10,000 permanent residents in local towns will be up to seven in total by the same year.

The plan also states that three years later, all the 29 regional medical and health centers in rural areas will feature eight centers for health examination and management, rehabilitation and pain treatment, digestive endoscopic treatment, women and children, oral cavity, traditional Chinese medicine, and mental health.

Nantong currently has 35 community-based health service centers, 80 government-run health centers, and 1,461 village-based clinics.

The city has established 12 provincial-level community-based hospitals, 29 provincial-level regional medical and health centers in rural areas, and 164 family doctor's studios.

The city has also cultivated 1,025 medical students for medical and healthcare institutions in rural areas.