Over the past twenty years, the relationship between Loma Linda University Health and Children’s Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine (ZCH) has grown into one defined not just by programs, but by people. It is marked by consistency, mutual investment, and a shared commitment to care.
That kind of partnership is built through exchange. Faculty and students travel both ways, learning from one another and returning home with ideas that take root. It is sustained through hospitality, in how visitors are received, how relationships are maintained, and how trust carries forward over time.
This April, ZCH leadership returned to Loma Linda, led by Chairman Zhang Weifang, PhD, alongside a delegation of department directors and senior leaders across orthopedics, endocrinology, and burn and plastic surgery, as well as leadership in nursing, rheumatology, and research. The delegation included Tang Xin, MD; Wu Wei, MD; Yue Xiaojie, MD; Fu Cangcang; Zheng Qi, MD; and Song Chao, MD.
Across Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, conversations focused on how care is delivered and improved, from child life services and nursing education to patient experience and clinical operations. The delegation toured the NICU and PICU to understand how systems are built and sustained in practice.
What makes this collaboration distinct is what happens after the visits.
In pediatric critical care, joint efforts helped establish Pediatric Fundamental Critical Care Support (PFCCS) training programs in China, including translated curriculum and locally trained faculty. In education, SIMS exchanges have connected students across disciplines in children’s health and public health.
In dentistry and clinical training, early visits evolved into ongoing academic collaboration. In nursing, more than twenty nurses have completed or are completing advanced degrees at Loma Linda, many now serving in leadership roles.
And in child life services, the impact is especially visible.
What began as an introduction has grown into a structured, multi-campus program at ZCH. Today, pediatric nurses are trained in child life practices across all three hospital campuses, with formal training extending to providers throughout China. The work now includes national standards, published materials, and new pathways for certification.
These changes show up in care. There is greater attention to patients and families, stronger communication, and increased involvement of parents in decision-making.
They also reflect something less measurable, but just as important.
Throughout the visit, one idea came up again and again. This partnership feels like family.
Not because of how long it has existed, but because of how it has been sustained through presence, trust, and a shared understanding that the work continues beyond any single visit.
The visit concluded with a ceremony on April 28, marking 20 years of collaboration. During the evening, Zhang Weifang, PhD, was recognized with the Global Impact Award for her leadership in strengthening this partnership over time. Twenty years ago, she came to Loma Linda University as the first from her institution to receive nursing mentorship. This return marked not just a recognition of leadership, but the continuation of a relationship that helped shape it.