A medical team was sent out during a bitter winter and has now returned in spring. On April 21, a ceremony was held on the Huaxi (West China) Campus to welcome home the university’s medical team sent to combat COVID-19. Attending the ceremony were Chairman Jianguo Wang of the university council; President Yanrong Li; Vice President Lin Zhang; leaders of West China Hospital, West China Second Hospital, West China Fourth Hospital and the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures; and medical team members. The ceremony was presided over by Vice President Lin Zhang.
Huaxi Campus was filled with bouquets, applause, children waving Chinese flags and medical staff holding welcome placards. To the rhythm ofOde to the Motherland, representatives of the medical staff of West China Hospital and the family members of team members welcomed their loved ones and colleagues on their return from the fight against COVID-19. Accompanying their hospitality were flowers, national flags and placards which read in Chinese “Welcome Home,” “You’re the Best” and “The Heroes Have Returned,” among other laudatory phrases.
At the welcoming ceremony, university leaders and leaders of the hospitals and colleges offered flowers to the medical team members and expressed gratitude for their hard work. Speaking as representatives of the medical teams were Dr. Zong’an Liang, the leader of the first batch of experts to Italy and the director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of West China Hospital; Dr. Xinsheng Xue, the leader of the medical team from West China Second University Hospital sent to Hubei; and Dr. Yu Du, the leader of the medical team from Fourth West China Hospital sent to Hubei. They briefly reported on the work of the frontlines, and they expressed their gratitude for the support, care and help offered by the university, hospitals, families and all sectors of society.
Having listened to the medical team’s reports, Chairman Jianguo Wang welcomed all the team members and thanked the families of the team members on behalf of the university. He said that since the outbreak, a total of 298 medical professionals from West China School of Medicine had traveled to assist Wuhan, Hubei, the Chengdu Public Health and Medical Treatment Center, Daofu, Ganzi, Chongqing, Tibet, Italy, Ethiopia and other severely affected countries and regions. They treated patients with selfless love, high morals and exquisite skills, and they made significant contributions to China’s major victory in epidemic prevention and control. The team members are the pride of Sichuan University, the heroes of our country, and the warriors of our people. On the front lines of combatting the epidemic, a temporary party organization formed by each medical team of our university fully played its role. A total of 191 CPC members charged ahead, and 33 colleagues joined the Party during this mission. They held the party flag high on the front lines, and they faithfully carried out their original communist aspiration and mission. He pointed out that the current, general domestic epidemic prevention and control situation looks good, but the risk of external import and domestic relapse still exists. We should be developing the economy while fighting against the epidemic, as we must all be prepared to make new contributions on this new journey. He emphasized that the relevant departments of the university and the affiliated hospitals should conscientiously implement the various policies offering care for medical team members, and they should guarantee their service and support work. The heroes and their spirit of responsibility, self-sacrifice and courage should be an example for all our staff and students, helping us to resolutely win the two battles of “epidemic prevention and control” and “socioeconomic development.”
President Yanrong Li thanked all team members for their outstanding contributions on their front-lines battle against COVID-19. He said, “when the first batch of medical teams set out on the first day of the New Year, what concerned us was not their expertise or professionalism but rather, their safety. At that time, people did not understand the virus. They felt helpless and panicked when the outbreak occurred. These medical teams, however, stood out bravely and rushed to the front lines, batch by batch, to face moments of life and death. There were many reports about their work every day. Being featured either on CCTV News, News 1+1 or associated outlets, they were all exemplary, and they were the honor of West China School of Medicine and Sichuan University. They particularly inspired the patriotic enthusiasm of countless Chinese people on February 7 when they met other teams from Shandong Province in Tianhe Airport in Wuhan.” He said that the compassion of the doctors of the West China Hospital for the nation, their kindness and their responsibility will be integrated into the Huaxi spirit and the Sichuan University culture, forming a strong driving force for the university’s development.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, our university has conscientiously implemented a series of important instructions given by General Secretary Jinping Xi on resolutely winning the battle for the prevention and control of the epidemic. SCU has thoroughly complied with the major deployments of the central government and the relevant work requirements of the Ministry of Education, the Sichuan provincial government and the Chengdu municipal government. While comprehensively carrying out joint prevention and control work from top to bottom, and while resolutely preventing the spread of the epidemic on campus, we were also actively fulfilling our social responsibilities, giving full play to the overall advantage of our medical discipline, actively dealing with the epidemic in Sichuan and supporting Hubei, Chongqing and Tibet. After the overseas outbreak, Huaxi immediately set out to assist Italy, Ethiopia and other countries, where it contributed to local epidemic prevention and treatment.
Since the first medical team was dispatched on January 25, our university has sent a total of 298 medical team members, including 259 from West China Hospital, 26 from West China Second University Hospital, 12 from West China Fourth Hospital, and one from the College of Foreign Languages and Cultures. The medical staff of Sichuan University traveled against the crowds and provided assistance in seriously affected areas. With superb medical skills and high-quality services, they made great contributions towards winning the battle against the epidemic.
