Occupational Diseases Department

1. The occupational disease specialty of our hospital is the Hangzhou Occupational Disease Treatment Center, established in 2000; its predecessor was the Hangzhou Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment Hospital. Relying on the technical strengths of a tertiary Grade A hospital, it undertakes the diagnosis and treatment of occupational diseases as well as teaching and research, and treats patients with occupational diseases and non-occupational poisoning (from heavy metals and chemical substances) from Zhejiang Province and surrounding areas such as Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Shanghai. 2. The conditions treated by our department are mainly pneumoconiosis at all stages and occupational diseases of the respiratory system; they also include various non-occupational and occupational heavy-metal poisonings (lead, mercury, cadmium, etc.) and acute and chronic poisonings caused by other chemical substances. The annual number of inpatients is approximately 1000 cases, and the annual outpatient volume exceeds 15000 visits; the number of patients from areas outside Zhejiang Province is increasing year by year. 3. Our department was among the first units in the province to obtain qualifications for diagnosing occupational pneumoconiosis and chemical-substance poisoning. 4. Our department actively develops new technologies and projects both domestically and internationally, including the treatment of pneumoconiosis with high-volume whole-lung lavage (including simultaneous high-volume lung lavage), with more than 100 cases/year. Integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine is used to treat heavy-metal poisoning such as lead and mercury, with definite efficacy and few side effects. The department's main responsibilities include: 1. clinical diagnosis and treatment of occupational diseases and diagnosis of occupational diseases as defined by law; 2. teaching and research in occupational disease diagnosis and treatment for Hangzhou; 3. public-health emergency rescue duties for chemical-substance poisoning in Hangzhou. The department's research direction is the study of the mechanisms underlying the occurrence of various occupational diseases and poisonings and of diagnostic and treatment technologies.