Recently, the Blood Purification Center of the Nephrology Department at The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University welcomed a special patient—a Chinese patient with chronic kidney failure from the Philippines. With the medical team's dedicated, round-the-clock professional care, the patient was able to complete his regular hemodialysis treatment smoothly and successfully. This marks the first cross-border dialysis case since the hospital launched its "Tourism Dialysis" service, creating a safe, efficient, and compassionate lifeline for kidney disease patients who travel or live across borders.
On March 30, 2026, the Blood Purification Center received an urgent request. A tour guide, Mr. Wang, informed the team that one of his group members—a Chinese patient from the Philippines—would need routine hemodialysis the next day and hoped to receive timely treatment at our hospital. The department took the request very seriously, and the Tourism Dialysis team responded quickly. Associate Chief Physician Jia Lining and Head Nurse Zhao Li immediately coordinated the patient's needs, carefully reviewed the patient's medical history and local treatment details, explained the treatment process and key precautions, and preliminarily determined the dialysis prescription.
On March 31, the patient arrived as scheduled. Dr. Jia meticulously verified the patient's overseas medication records and complication history, while simultaneously completing a physical examination and necessary pre-treatment checks. Dr. Lei Fuqian provided full English translation services throughout the process, using smooth and clear communication to ease the patient's sense of unfamiliarity and anxiety about receiving medical care in a foreign country. At 3:00 p.m., the dialysis treatment began on time. After four hours of standardized procedures, the patient's vital signs remained stable throughout, and the treatment was completed successfully. The patient said with genuine admiration: "I never imagined that even in a foreign country, I could receive such professional and thoughtful medical care. I feel truly at ease and deeply moved!"
The success of this cross-border dialysis not only demonstrates the professional expertise of the Blood Purification Center of XJTU's Nephrology Department, but also highlights the convenience and human-centered design of the "Tourism Dialysis" service, providing strong support for kidney disease patients with cross-border medical needs. Since the Nephrology Department was approved as an International Medical Tourism Demonstration Base in November 2023, it has provided nearly 200 sessions of tourism dialysis services to 51 patients from 17 provinces and regions, including Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Hainan, Jilin, Dalian, Guangxi, Shandong, Ningbo, Heilongjiang, and Taiwan.
As cross-border exchanges grow increasingly close, ensuring continuity of medical care for overseas Chinese and foreign nationals in China has become an important direction for improving medical services. Through specialized, meticulous, and compassionate services, the Nephrology Department continues to deepen our hospital's international medical service system. This cross-border dialysis case is a vivid example of our hospital's internationalization in medical practice. In April 2025, witnessed by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Nephrology Department took the lead in signing a framework agreement with Uzbekistan to establish a China-Uzbekistan International Nephrology Specialty Alliance. In January 2026, with the support of the National Health Commission, the China-Africa Kidney Disease Alliance was established.
In the future, the Nephrology Department will continue to optimize the entire "Tourism Dialysis" service chain. In particular, for international medical treatment of complex cases, the department will leverage its strengths to actively build an international platform for online expert discussions and surgical guidance—continuing to protect lives with professionalism and bridge borders with compassion.
