Li Cheng is one of the alumni of our Nankai-Flinders joint cooperation program, and one of the graduates from the Group 22 of the Master’s Degree in Hospital Management. Currently, he is working as the deputy director of the Community Health Service Center in Hongmei Street, Tianning District, Changzhou.

The town of Ganxi, in the Xunyang County is part of Ankang, a city in Shaanxi. This little town is more than 1,300 kilometers away from Changzhou (Jiangsu) and is located in a mountain area at the southern foot of the Qinling Mountains. In that area, the primary medical care needs to be improved urgently. So, in July 2020 Li Cheng took the initiative and offers himself to participate in the third batch of the medical support mission.

Dr. Li left his battle against the epidemic at the hospital and packed his bags without hesitation. After saying goodbye to his young children and other family members, he set foot on the bus that took him to Shaanxi. As the head of the medical team, Li Cheng devoted himself to his work from the first day he arrived at Ganxi.

The outpatient department, the ward, and the operating room were the places that saw him working and sweating. Among his tasks, he did some diagnosis and treatment work, teaching, training as well as provision of free medical examination. In total, he traveled to 12 villages in Ganxi, Dr. Li still remembers by heart the name of each village.

From July to September, during the rainy season, there is often a risk of landslide. The traffic in this area, surrounded by mountains, circling twists, could be really inconvenient, since there are no guardrails next to the cliff. Regardless of his safety, Dr Li often walked across several hills to visit the towns. Ganxi is very cold in October, but Dr. Li insisted on checking every elderly person despite how cold it was.

In addition to his status as a doctor, he is graduate from our master’s program in Hospital Administration. This experience as a student helped him to solve other matters than their medical care duties. While providing medical assistance, Li Cheng helped to the local hospital's system construction as well as other tasks as department planning, and guidance on epidemic prevention and control.

During his period in Ganxi, he found that the children in the village had weak awareness of oral health care, so he used his free time to contact the teachers of the three most remote primary schools in and organize a special class about Oral and Body Health. He also donated 200 dental care kits to children, creating a new model of “doctors supporting education”.

Li Cheng is really involved into public welfare; once he learned that some orphan students were facing difficulties, he immediately instructed his team members to assist the students. Under the witness of the Xunyang County Charity Association, he established the "Changzhou Tianning District Medical Team Charity Assistance Fund”, and organized a donation of more than 50,000 yuan to ensure that the children complete their studies. He showed that he took the lead in helping poor patients, the families in need and the poor students.

A few days before the end of the medical support, he knew that the Ankang blood draw station was short blood, so he drove for more than 2 hours by car, rolled up his sleeves and donated blood. After that, he returned to his unit and continued working.

Dr. Li is always grateful. Doing good deeds is his mantra. Colleagues from Ganxi Health Center praised him and his work. At his farewell ceremony, he received a certificate of commendation issued by the Xunyang County Health Bureau. He knew that it was a gain, an affirmation, and a responsibility to continue working hard.