International medical center planned for Hunan Province

The US-based University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced it plans to establish an international medical center with the cooperation of Xiangya Hospital in Hunan Province.

The partnership has been approved by the local government, which is keen to ease overcrowding in public hospitals, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center executives told a health care forum in Shanghai.

The executives said they are also interested in establishing a medical facility in Shanghai through a partnership with one of the city's leading public hospitals.

"Our current cooperation with Chinese hospitals mainly focuses on medical training and collaborative research," said Charles Bogosta, executive vice president of UPMC. "The medical center in Hunan is a longer term plan."