On August 14, Document Zhongfa [ ] No. 4 was issued to circulate this report to all Central Bureaus, provincial, municipal, and regional Party committees, as well as to all central departments, with notification also sent to the General Political Department. The document required all localities to carry out similar reforms of “gentleman’s hospitals” like Beijing Hospital, effectively correcting the serious estrangement from the masses.

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Commentary on the Report of the CPC Committee of the Ministry of Public Health Concerning Further Reform of Beijing Hospital [1] (August 2, 1965)  To be handled by the Secretariat. Mao Zedong, August 2. Printed from the manuscript.  Note [1] This commentary was written on a report dated August 1, 1965, submitted by the CPC Committee of the Ministry of Public Health to Mao Zedong and the CPC Central Committee, concerning further reform of Beijing Hospital. The report stated: On June 26 of this year, the Chairman delivered stern criticism to the Ministry of Public Health. At present, in accordance with the Chairman’s criticism and instructions from Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, and others, we are examining our mistakes and formulating measures to shift the focus of health work toward the countryside. Here we first set forth our views on the further reform of Beijing Hospital for your review and directive, so that implementation can begin immediately.  1. Thoroughly transform the nature of Beijing Hospital: abolish its current name and rename it Dongdan Hospital. Abolish its special function of providing medical care exclusively to high-ranking cadres and their families. Henceforth, like other hospitals in the city, it shall be fully open to the general public and assume responsibility for district-based state-funded medical services.  2. The medical care previously provided at Beijing Hospital for high-ranking cadres and their families shall, going forward, be allocated according to district boundaries and undertaken by the respective district hospitals, including Dongdan Hospital. In addition, it is planned to strengthen and increase the number of outpatient clinics in urban areas to provide medical services to both the general public and cadres.  CPC Central Committee