Abstract: Objective To compare the changes in incentive mechanism for township hospital health workers in three provinces at the beginning stage(2011)and deepening stage(2013)of new health system reform.Methods We conducted questionnaire surveys on income, welfare, satisfaction, and work experience among health workers in 18 township hospitals in Shandong, Anhui and Shanxi province in 2011 and 2013.Results Compared to those in 2011, the average actual monthly income increased by 38.6%and the coverage ratio of work-related injury, unemployment, and maternity insurance increased by 22.2%, 12.1%, and 2.9%in 2013, respectively, among the health workers.Although increased by 0.16 and 0.23, the workers' scores for satisfaction to income and welfare were still the lowest in all motivation factors.The satisfaction of the workers to non-financial motivation factors showed no obvious change but the score for sense of work meaning decreased by 0.22.Conclusion With the continual improvement in economic incentive, more emphasis should be put on non-economic incentive among township hospital health workers.