Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Guangzhou with Chinese and American partner institutions under the "Discover LA Medical Care," a new medical tourism initiative that will provide world-class health care alternatives to Chinese citizens seeking expert health care.
Zhang Zifang, COO of China Southern Airlines, a leading carrier in China in terms of passenger volume and operates the Guangzhou-Los Angeles direct service daily, is one of the nine signatories in the MoU.
The other signatories to the agreement with the city mayor are President and CEO William Allen of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.; President and CEO Ernest Wooden Jr. of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board; and the heads of the five participating health care providers--namely, President and CEO Thomas Priselac of Cedars-Sinai; President and CEO Richard Cordova of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles; President and CEO Robert Stone of City of Hope National Medical Center; Senior Vice President and CEO of USC Health Thomas E. Jackiewicz of Keck Medicine of USC; and CEO David Feinberg of UCLA Health.
The five participating health care centers are all world-renowned medical facilities which are fully equipped to meet Chinese visitor needs with transportation, hotel accommodations and everything necessary to make them feel comfortable while away from home.
Under the "Discover LA Medical Care" initiative, it will be easier for Chinese citizens to travel to Los Angeles for treatment and care at these five centers of health care excellence.
A new website, http://www.hellola.cn/medicalcare, was launched to help those who may want to know more about how they can take advantage of the medical tourism packages covered under the initiative.
Aside from the medical tourism deal, Mayor Garcetti also signed an MoU to create an alliance with Guangzhou Mayor Jianhua Chen and Auckland Mayor Len Brown to promote cooperation among their respective cities in the fields of trade, entertainment, tourism and innovation.
Under the agreement, each of the three cities will be taking turns in hosting an economic summit over a three-year term.