(Yicai Global) Dec. 16 -- A health center in a small town in China’s central Hunan province offers a snapshot of the current situation for grassroots medical practices in the country.

The center serves an urban population of 50,000 with only eight doctors, which means there is one doctor for every 6,250 people, leading to pressure both in terms of staffing and funding.

“The government has recently mentioned multiple times that it will enhance and improve grassroots medical services,” said Jiang Dachun, who is in charge of the center's public health services, adding that he was optimistic that conditions will get better.

The center has 150 beds, or three beds for every 1,000 residents. This ratio as well as the town's physicians to population ratio is below average for the province. The center usually has sufficient beds for daily operation, while a shortage of medical staff is another core issue. It was hard for the center's staff to meet residents’ needs even before Covid-19, Jiang said, adding that they have had to work overtime and even doctors who have been infected with Covid-19 recently still have to work.

Another problem is that hiring new staff is not easy for township health centers, as they are also under financial strain and cannot hire without approval from higher-level authorities.

“The workload this year has been three to four times that of last year, but there has been less money,” Jiang said. Salaries allocated to each township health center across the county have fallen by nearly CNY200,000 (USD28,685) from last year, Jiang added.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Tom Litting