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Hospital Overview

The St. Luke's Hospital Era (1972–1981)

1972

During the fierce street battles in Chengdu's Chuanjun Lane in 1932, he treated wounded soldiers and officers, earning widespread praise from both military personnel and civilians. During the Anti-Japanese War, when Japanese aircraft bombed Chengdu, the provincial government designated this hospital as a key medical facility, specifically tasked with rescuing critically injured patients. The hospital organized its medical staff into an emergency rescue team, which immediately sprang into action after each bombing raid to provide life-saving care. It also began accepting students from West China University for clinical internships. In 1944, the hospital established a laboratory and initiated routine three-part diagnostic tests. That same year, it started recruiting Chinese physicians to join its medical team, eventually appointing Dr. Xiao Ji—a highly skilled doctor—as its new hospital director. Dr. Xiao Ji became the first Chinese national to serve as director of St. Joseph Hospital. By 1947, the hospital had added a private, affiliated institution: the Ren'ai Advanced School of Nursing, which admitted three classes in total, training 57 nurses over the years. Notably, Professor Lang Yuxiu, a renowned American-trained vocal artist (and Dr. Xiao Ji’s wife), personally taught English to the nursing students. All rounds conducted by medical staff, patient examinations, and even medical record-keeping were carried out exclusively in English. At the end of 1919, French physician Albert Gervais was dispatched by the then-Diplomatic Mission Office to Sichuan, China, where he assumed the role of Medical Director at the local French Catholic Church-run hospital. He also took on teaching duties at the Royal Military Medical College in Chengdu, jointly operated by the French and Chinese governments at the time. Deeply passionate about China, Dr. Gervais returned to France in 1925 but left behind a lasting legacy: five books about China inspired by his experiences working and living there, including "Flowers of Emotion," "The Shadow of the Devil Horse," "The God of Medicine in China," "The God of Medicine in China Amidst Rebellion," and "A Doctor in China." Through his extensive efforts to promote Chinese culture, Dr. Gervais became a true ambassador of cultural exchange between China and France. In November 2015, Aurore Staiger, a freelance writer from France, visited the hospital to trace her grandfather Albert Gervais’s footsteps at St. Joseph Hospital.

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The St. Luke's Hospital Era (1901–1951)

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