Great Hospitals of Asia: Neurosurgery and Spine Surgery at Xi'an Jiaotong University-Affiliated Honghui Hospital

Established in 1987, the Spine Surgery Hospital at Honghui Hospital is one of the oldest spinal surgical departments in China. The first chairman, Yuan Fuyong, devoted himself to the development of the department. The current president, Hao Dingjun, assumed the position in November 2008. The current department consists of 5 wards and 235 beds, encompassing the entire spectrum of spinal surgical diseases, with 27 specialized faculty members and care teams. The remarkable growth of the hospital during the last 30 years made it possible to perform 8000 operations in 2017. A total of 300 articles were published in scientific journals, of which more than 100 were published in international journals between 1987 and 2017. At present, the developmental model of neurosurgery and spine surgery at Honghui Hospital is based on the concept of holistic integrative medicine. It was jointly developed by several departments including those of spine surgery, neurosurgery, traditional Chinese medicine rehabilitation, and basic research. This article traces the history, research and teaching accomplishments, academic exchanges, and future directions. •The Spine Surgery Hospital has become the largest diagnosis and treatment center for spine diseases in Western China.•It has 235 spine surgery beds, including 5 ward areas with over 8000 surgical operations every year.•It owns 20 patents and has published over 300 academic articles, with more than 100 SCI articles.•The developmental model of neurosurgery and spine surgery at Honghui Hospital is based on holistic integrative medicine.