John Abner Snell (28 October 1880 – 2 March 1936), also known as Soo E. Sang, was a missionary surgeon and hospital administrator in Suzhou (Soochow), China.

Snell was known for his skillful surgical work, collection of data regarding syphilis prevalence, research into the host of blood flukes, and public health campaigns against tuberculosis.

Under his administration, the Soochow Hospital underwent a large expansion, acquired modern technology, and was held to a very high standard.

"[2] Snell encouraged the integration of local workers in the mission hospital, stating in one report: "Let us take into partnership with us the people among whom and for whom we are working and co-operate with them to establish medical standards.

They aimed to "enroll a sufficient number of properly qualified students who purpose to devote their lives to foreign missionary work.

"[7] Coincidentally, Dr. Walter Lambuth, the Missionary Secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who started the hospital where Snell would go on to work in Soochow, China, was on the advisory committee of the Student Volunteer Movement at the time.

Lambuth held popular bible study groups in his home, one of the ways which Snell familiarized himself with Soochow and the missionary work of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Approximately 3000 of these patients were treated surgically, and the annual report noted that "in surgery the work has been heavier and more varied than in any preceding year."

In 1917, the hospital was responsible for a campaign with the local police department to remove stagnant water and cover fruit at stands, however little success was recorded.

[16] Years later, the Rockefeller Foundation continued to fund the Soochow hospital for maintenance, research, construction and other fees, as indicated by annual reports.

The design was primarily Western, although the outpatient wing was still built in a Chinese style, connected to the main hospital through a covered gallery.

It was considered one of the best hospitals in "China, in England, in America, or in Europe" according to The North-China Herald, due to its state of the art facilities, which Snell helped to initiate.

[19] According to the China Medical Journal, at the new hospital Snell taught a popular laboratory course for technicians in order to improve diagnosis through the use of equipment.

He reported that the female nurses he worked with in China were kinder and there were fewer cases of rudeness and disrespect from male patients.

[21] Snell also established the concept of treating minor medical issues in a cheaper building, while those who were seriously ill could have access to a bed and more extensive care.

Another idea which affected the majority of hospitals in the region included the value of sunshine as a disinfectant, and as such he insisted all rooms receive sun.

Finally, Snell recommended that small individual missions in the same region should combine to have a resources available in one larger and inclusive facility.

July 1, Soochow Hospital established a field laboratory in order to investigate the hookworm epidemic and spread of the disease.

[23] The report was compiled along with Henry Edmund Meleney and Ernest Carroll, and helped to identify the mollusk as the same species as one located near Shanghai.

[24] Snell wrote a comprehensive report on the 206 treated appendicitis cases admitted to the Soochow hospital from 1914-1927, not including outpatients.

[25] For example, one of Snell's patients, a teacher from a wealthy Soochow family, refused surgery in spring and his condition only degraded until September, when he was finally operated on.

[26] Snell insisted that gastric ulcers were far more common among Chinese patients than previously believed, and that many cases of digestive troubles were incorrectly treated.

The soup was a method of quick success in the hospital, as patients were more comfortable eating a dish which complied with social context as a part of medical treatment.

[28] Snell also treated cholera patients with emetine hypodermically, and later published one of the first papers on how it could act as a poison in large doses.

Snell published his own article, "Chinese Copper Coins of the Twentieth Century," in the June 1932 issue of The Numismatist.