The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University School of Medicine is a three-level hospital integrating medical treatment, teaching, scientific research, and preventive health care. A general hospital, the hospital is located in Guangsha New Town, north of Shantou City, serving a population of approximately 1.2 million people in the surrounding area. In 2009, the number of outpatient (emergency) visits was 530,000, and the number of discharged patients was nearly 30,000. The hospital is also one of the first large-scale general hospitals in China to have passed the dual certification of IS0900l quality management system and IS01400l environmental management system by German TüV Rheinland, and has implemented the IS09004 quality and performance process management system.