BEIJING - Thirty-nine employees of a hospital in South China's Guangdong province will be punished for taking illegal kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said Tuesday.

Thirty-nine employees of the People's Hospital of Gaozhou received kickbacks totaling 2.82 million yuan ($460,367) from two pharmaceutical companies from January 2010 to December 2012, according to a statement issued by the commission.

The vice chairman of the hospital's trade union and two people in charge of the two pharmaceutical companies involved have had their cases transferred to judicial organs, while nine doctors who directly received kickbacks were dismissed, suspended or had their licenses revoked, the statement said.

The director of the local health bureau was given a warning and an administrative sanction, while the hospital's director was dismissed from his post and received a warning, as well as had a demerit added to his professional record, according to the statement.

Tough measures will be used to crack down on commercial bribery and corruption involving the procurement of drugs and medical equipment, the NHFPC said.

The NHFPC also vowed to improve the way drugs are procured by hospitals in order to prevent prices from becoming inflated.