Beijing to get three children's hospitals

Beijing - Faced with a shortage of paediatric medical services, Beijing will soon witness construction of three new hospitals for children in the city.

The capital is bracing for a baby boom as about 200,000 babies will be born in 2012, the Year of the Dragon, which is believed by many people as the most auspicious year of the Chinese zodiac, reported the China Daily citing Beijing News.

According to Fang Laiying, director of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, Peking University First Hospital will open a medical unit in southern Beijing while two other children's hospitals are also being planned in the eastern and western parts of the city.

There are about 100 hospitals in Beijing that have paediatric departments and nearly one-third are in level-three hospitals, a media report said.