Overview
- Investigations by Beijing News, relayed by 36Kr and CDT, report that private hospitals in Xiangyang and Yichang took in people without confirmed mental illness, fabricated records and treatment items, and then sought insurance reimbursement.
- Named institutions in the coverage include Xiangyang Hong’an Psychiatric Hospital, Yichang Yiling Kangning Psychiatric Hospital, and Xiangyang Rongcheng Hospital, with reporters detailing on-the-ground recruitment and intake practices.
- Undercover accounts describe pitches such as “free room and board,” cooperation with village committees to bring in people, registering guards or caregivers as patients, and tactics to conceal real headcounts during audits, with reimbursements cited at roughly 130 yuan per person per day and annual intakes reaching several million yuan at larger sites.
- Corporate records show some operators shifted from non-medical businesses into psychiatric care and built sprawling affiliate networks; prior sanctions include a September 2024 fine for Xiangyang Rongcheng Hospital for using non-qualified personnel, alongside earlier pharmacy management warnings.
- Historical court findings cited in the reports highlight missing or inconsistent medical records in a 2016 case at a related facility, underscoring longstanding documentation problems, while broader official conclusions beyond Xiangyang’s probe have not yet been announced.