A nurse at the PVS Care center looks after patients in a persistent vegetative state in Beijing. (Photo: China Daily)

In the past five years, Xiang Jiuda quit his job as a neurosurgeon at a public hospital, sold one house, mortgaged another, and set up and operated a special care center providing palliative treatment for patients in a vegetative state.

There are more than 30 patients who are taken care of by 20 nurses and one doctor, Xiang, at the PVS Care Center in Beijing's suburban Miyun District. Forty-three have passed away. The center is reportedly the country's first nursing home for people in a persistent vegetative state.

According to the American Academy of Neurology, a vegetative state is defined as "a state of complete ignorance of oneself and the environment. With the sleep-wake cycle, the autonomic functions of hypothalamus and brain stem are completely or partially preserved."

"Caring for a PVS patient means comforting the family (left) behind. The vegetative patient is a living person, and will never become a 'vegetable'," the 50-year-old Beijing doctor said. He has invested more than 5 million yuan ($714,000) into the center.

In China, it is estimated about 500,000 patients are in a persistent vegetative state, and this number is still rising.