Chengdu First People’s Hospital (Chengdu Integrated TCM & Western Medicine Hospital)

Chengdu First People's Hospital, also operating as Chengdu Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, is one of China's largest and most distinctive integrated medicine institutions — a Grade A tertiary general hospital that delivers modern Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine side by side. Founded in 1942, it was the first hospital in Chengdu certified as a Grade A tertiary hospital and remains a flagship of the city's public healthcare system.

History and Scale: The hospital began as the Chengdu Public Hospital during wartime and has since undergone multiple transformations, becoming the city's designated integrated medicine center. Today it operates across a main campus in Chengdu's High-Tech Zone with approximately 2,000 beds and a northern campus currently under development. Annual outpatient visits exceed 2.5 million, with over 70,000 inpatient admissions per year. The hospital employs more than 3,000 staff and functions as a teaching hospital for Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, hosting over 20 standardized residency training programs.

Star Specialties: The hospital's unique strength lies in its integrated model — patients can access both conventional Western therapies and evidence-based TCM treatments within the same clinical encounter. Its Cardiology Department is a national-level chest pain center and a leader in interventional cardiology across Western China's prefecture-level hospitals. The Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Department runs one of Sichuan's busiest bronchoscopy and pulmonary intervention programs. The hospital also excels in Neurology (designated National Advanced Stroke Center), Gastroenterology (advanced endoscopic submucosal dissection and ERCP), and Nephrology (one of Chengdu's largest dialysis programs). Its TCM departments — particularly acupuncture, tuina, and herbal medicine — are integrated into virtually every inpatient service, with dedicated TCM oncology and TCM rehabilitation units that attract patients from across the province and neighboring regions.

Achievements and Recognition: The hospital was the first in Chengdu's municipal system to achieve Grade A tertiary accreditation and has maintained this status across every review cycle. It pioneered the integrated medicine model in Sichuan, receiving multiple national designations including National Integrated TCM-Western Medicine Flagship Hospital and National Advanced Stroke Center. Its clinical laboratory is accredited to ISO 15189 standards, ensuring internationally recognized diagnostic quality.

International Services: The hospital operates a Special Needs and International Outpatient Clinic on its main campus, offering English-speaking reception staff and expedited pathways for foreign patients. While less internationally oriented than Beijing or Shanghai centers, the hospital has growing experience with expatriate patients from Chengdu's expanding international community, particularly in cardiology, respiratory medicine, and nephrology. The integrated medicine offering is especially attractive to patients from countries with established TCM traditions, such as Singapore, Malaysia, and parts of Europe.

Why Choose Chengdu First People's Hospital: For international patients seeking a genuinely integrated Western-TCM treatment experience at a major academic center, this hospital has few peers anywhere in China in terms of scale and integration depth. Patients with chronic conditions that may benefit from combined approaches — such as post-stroke rehabilitation, cancer supportive care, or chronic pain — will find here a model of care that is still rare in the West, delivered at a hospital with the safety net of full modern critical care capabilities.