In 1978, when Jinan University was re-established, to meet the needs of overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan returning to China for medical treatment, and on the initiative of Mr. Liao Chengzhi, then Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, aiming to serve the health of the general public and overseas Chinese, and to cultivate Medicine talents for society, the State Council approved the establishment of a large hospital in Guangzhou. This is the Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Hospital, also serving as the affiliated teaching hospital of Jinan University Medicine School. In 1981, upholding the principles of great medical sincerity and boundless love, Guangzhou Overseas Chinese Hospital officially opened, and in 2001 it was also named the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University. In 2004, to adapt to the development needs of clinical Medicine, it added the name 'Jinan University First Clinical Medicine School'. In 2005, it took over the former Guangzhou Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant Workers' Hospital to establish the Dongpu Branch of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University.

The hospital is adjacent to the elegantly environed Jinan University Campus. It is a comprehensive national Grade 3A hospital integrating medical treatment, teaching, scientific research, prevention, healthcare, and rehabilitation, open to domestic patients and overseas Chinese. It has been rated as a 'Baby-Friendly Hospital', an 'International SOS Cooperative Hospital', and a AAA credit-rated hospital designated by Guangzhou Municipal Social Insurance, and has become a designated hospital for Guangdong work injury insurance and Guangdong new rural cooperative medical care, and is a designated medical Baoding unit for Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhaoqing, and other regions.

The hospital currently has over 1,700 staff members, including 180 at the Dongpu Branch. Among the faculty, 281 hold doctoral or master's degrees; over 160 are returned overseas scholars; 216 have senior technical titles; 2 are experts receiving special allowances from the State Council; and it has a group of Medicine experts and backbone personnel with influence in the province and even nationwide. The hospital has 22 clinical teaching and research sections, is a doctoral professional degree training unit in clinical Medicine (first-level discipline), and has a clinical Medicine postdoctoral research mobile station and a clinical Medicine first-level discipline master's degree authorization point, covering 18 clinical Medicine second-level disciplines. Currently, our hospital has nearly 100 doctoral and master's supervisors, and nearly 1,000 doctoral and master's students enrolled. So far, it has trained nearly 600 doctoral and master's graduates. In scientific research, the hospital has cumulatively obtained over 1,000 various research projects, including National 863 Program projects, National Nature Science Fund projects, and 973 Project sub-topics, and has won nearly 100 various achievement awards such as those from the State Education Commission, Ministry of Health, and Provincial Technology Progress Awards, 8 invention patents, 16 practical new technologies, and 3 software copyrights.

The hospital has a complete range of professional disciplines, with 45 clinical specialty departments, currently 900 open beds, and advanced large medical equipment such as high-field magnetic resonance imaging, multi-slice spiral CT, large digital subtraction angiography machines, single-photon emission computed tomography scanners, chemiluminescence detectors, fully automated biochemical analyzers, linear accelerators, and gamma knife tumor treatment devices.

The hospital's characteristic medical projects are prominent. Individualized comprehensive treatment for cancer patients has formed multiple advantageous treatment diseases, such as lung cancer, liver cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer, and pituitary adenoma. It can perform various types of tissue and organ transplants, with kidney transplantation and corneal transplantation being maturely applied, and it has the qualification for bone marrow matching with Taiwan Tzu Chi Bone Marrow Center. Vascular interventional procedures for heart, brain, aortic, and peripheral vascular diseases have reached domestic leading levels. The prioritized development of minimally invasive endoscopic techniques is widely applied in multiple disciplines, and most general surgery, some urological, and gynecological diseases can be effectively treated under minimally invasive endoscopy. In addition, endoscopic sinus surgery and diagnosis and treatment of digestive tract diseases, arthroscopy, discoscopy, ventriculoscopy, fiberoptic bronchoscopy, and thoracoscopic surgery have all been maturely applied. The integrated obstetric new model of full-process care is standardized, advancing throughout multiple stages including prenatal diagnosis, prenatal education, baby-friendly services, neonatal intensive care, postpartum comfort, and postpartum follow-up. A comprehensive green channel emergency platform for critical, severe, and acute cases has been established and improved, from pre-hospital first aid to operating rooms and intensive care units, and from registration to examinations, tests, and blood transfusion channels, all efficiently optimized to maximize saving patients' lives. The clinical pathway model managed by disease type is widely used, strictly stipulating discussion and multidisciplinary collaboration systems for complex and difficult diseases, improving efficacy while saving patients' treatment time and costs, especially in mature early stroke treatment, joint replacement, and cardiac stent implantation, achieving significant results. The hospital has a fully equipped rehabilitation department and psychiatric psychology department, comprehensively carrying out physical and psychological rehabilitation treatment based on traditional therapies, with notable achievements in children's language rehabilitation. The hospital also uses various methods such as regular doctor-patient forums, establishing informed consent notification systems, offering continuity services, complaint handling, and consultation platforms for effective doctor-patient communication.

The hospital's ophthalmology department is a key discipline of Guangdong higher education institutions, and urology is a Guangdong '11th Five-Year Plan' Medicine key specialty. The hospital has multiple research institutes and bases, including a national pharmacological testing base, Ministry of Health endoscopic physician training base (general surgery, urology), China physician Culture Medicine vocational skills training base, clinical Medicine research institute, clinical Medicine central laboratory, and clinical Medicine teaching experiment center. It is one of the first batch of organ transplant institutions approved by the Ministry of Health, and in 2006, the series of studies on modern surgical treatment of kidney diseases won the first prize of Guangdong Technology Progress Award. The hospital holds multiple invention patents such as hemodialysis machines and ZM language therapy devices, and has emerged a group of outstanding scientific research and teaching talents, cultivating numerous high-quality scientific and educational achievements.

The hospital emphasizes exchanges with domestic and international peers. It has successively conducted multiple specialized training courses within the hospital, with trainees from multiple domestic hospitals and hospitals in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan; it has long-term stable cooperative relationships with Hong Kong University, Hong Kong Chinese University, Macau Conde de São Januário Hospital, and multiple foreign Academic research institutions, with mutual personnel exchanges and Academic research; it has nursing cooperation with SVSU Nursing School in the United States; and sends multiple nurses annually to Hong Kong government hospitals for nursing exchanges. At the same time, it invites renowned domestic and international experts to give lectures, jointly discussing related Academic issues in medical treatment, nursing, and Medicine education.

In 2009, the hospital's new comprehensive building began construction and was completed in 2011. By then, the hospital will have over 1,500 open beds, a more complete range of disciplines, a more rational professional structure, and overall medical, teaching, and research levels reaching the province's first-class, with some disciplines entering the national advanced ranks. Looking to the future, the responsibilities are heavy and the road is long. The hospital will adhere to the patient-centered service concept, continue to deepen reforms, respect knowledge, cultivate talents, create more precise, advanced, and strong medical specialty disciplines, seek development in survival, innovation in development, and perfection in innovation, striving to build a modern hospital that provides better services to society.

International Medical Centre open to overseas Chinese and residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, with trilingual (Chinese-English-Cantonese) service, health check-ups for international patients, organ transplantation, minimally invasive endoscopy and individualised comprehensive tumour treatment