Mayo Clinic, company form partnership to help Chinese patients

Mayo Clinic has signed an agreement with the Chinese company Saint Lucia, promising to provide easy access for Chinese patients who seek treatment at the US hospital.

The agreement with Mayo, which is based in Rochester, Minnesota, and is one of the world’s leading medical practice and research facilities, was signed on May 23 as part of "the United States and China Medical Culture," a series of events organized by Health Times, a publication covering health news in China.

It is the first time in Mayo Clinic’s 150-year history that the hospital has partnered with a Chinese company to provide health care to Chinese people.

Saint Lucia, established in 2009, has partnered with a dozen hospitals that rank in the top 10 in the US, Britain and Germany to assist Chinese people in getting treatment in those hospitals.

Saint Lucia’s services include translating medical papers; contacting overseas hospitals; applying for visas; and providing companionship and translation while patients get treatment overseas.

Mayo Clinic will evaluate applications and patients’ medical records to determine whether to accept a patient or recommend that the patient get local health care.

The clinic also will provide second opinions for patients’ local care, if necessary. Zhao Anping, deputy editor in chief of Health Time, said he is glad that Mayo Clinic will cooperate with Saint Lucia to meet the growing demand for overseas treatment of Chinese people.

He said he believes that the partnership will not only benefit Chinese patients who want to receive treatment abroad, but also will encourage Chinese medical practices to learn from Mayo Clinic and to better serve patients.

Melissa Goodwin, manager of global referrals at Mayo, said that the number of patients from China has increased in the past few years and that the partnership will be a win-win situation. During a visit to China from May 22 to 28, a hospital delegation team is meeting with Chinese medical professionals and hospital management to share experiences in how to serve patients’ best interests.