novelraw Chapter 378 - 344: Fast Track
Chapter 378 - 344: Fast Track
The expansion of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital is ongoing every day.
Especially the outpatient rooms and doctors’ offices, which have now doubled in size.
The young doctors coming over from Wei Medical Hall have also quickly joined the front lines.
Initially, they were quite reluctant because moving from a first-tier city to an 18th-tier small city seemed somewhat degrading.
But once they truly integrated into the collective of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital, they found this hospital quite comfortable.
They have to deal with a large number of patients every day and can feel confident and bold in diagnosing, knowing that they have more experienced chief physicians to back them up.
Moreover, the chiefs would teach them about some typical cases, using patients as real-life examples to impart clinical knowledge.
This knowledge is completely different from what’s in textbooks.
Especially in learning Five Elements Acupuncture, it truly expanded their worldview, showing them another side of TCM.
Furthermore, as they delved deeper into Five Elements Acupuncture, many of them found that if they could fully grasp it, it would greatly enhance their diagnostic skills.
Because the theoretical basis of these two things is interconnected.
After studying for a long time, many young doctors jokingly refer to Five Elements Acupuncture as the Nine Yang Divine Skill of traditional Chinese medicine.
Once mastered, it leads to understanding many other concepts, accelerating their learning of other TCM knowledge.
As the doctors improve, the number of patients increases as well.
Previously, due to a shortage of doctors, the hospital’s patient intake had reached saturation.
But now with the addition of Wei Medical Hall, and the continuous improvement of general doctors, the daily intake has increased from eight to nine thousand to around fourteen thousand.
Yesterday, Lu Jiu saw data showing it was directly approaching fifteen thousand.
This figure is not inferior to Jianghan People’s Hospital.
Since the rise of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital, the daily intake at Jianghan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Jianghan People’s Hospital has declined.
Jianghan People’s Hospital is still doing okay, after all, as a Western Hospital, it focuses on tests and surgeries, plus it has a strong community foundation, so many patients still choose to trust them.
But Jianghan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has suffered, with daily intakes plummeting to less than half, making it challenging to maintain even staff salaries.
It’s said that several young doctors at Jianghan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine have directly resigned and left.
They heard that soon the hospital might not even be able to pay wages, so they chose to leave.
Some have even asked Tang Yi if Lu Jiu TCM Hospital is hiring, and those asking are mostly doctors with some TCM background who haven’t worked too long at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
They still have a foundational knowledge of TCM, which they haven’t entirely forgotten, so they want to see if they can work at Lu Jiu TCM Hospital.
After all, Tang Yi had just proudly shared his salary on social media last month, which was over ten thousand!
This made the doctors at Jianghan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine incredibly envious!
Receiving a salary over ten thousand in a place like Jianghan is no small amount.
Moreover, if Tang Yi could earn such a high salary after such a short period, what about a few more years?
The lure of money drives more people to favor Lu Jiu TCM Hospital.
But in the face of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital’s strong rise, the two largest public hospitals in Jianghan are helpless.
Because Lu Jiu TCM Hospital relies on a herbal medicine base, it has official backing, and with its daily intake almost matching Jianghan People’s Hospital, this community foundation leaves the top leaders of the People’s Hospital just staring.
In a big city, they wouldn’t care how strong Lu Jiu TCM Hospital was because the market is large enough.
But Jianghan is a small place. Lu Jiu TCM Hospital is fed well, while they go hungry.
However, since the rise of Lu Jiu TCM Hospital happened so quickly, they’ve realized now but have no means to stop it.
They can only silently pray for coexistence without interference between Eastern and Western medicine.
...
Jianghan People’s Hospital.
Deputy Dean’s Office.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Come in!" Huang Qianqi said.
"Dean Huang, I have something to report." Fang Qian stepped in.
"What’s the matter? Is it another research topic to undertake?" Huang Qianqi smiled.
Fang Qian shook his head, "It’s about our hospital and Lu Jiu TCM Hospital."
Oh?
Huang Qianqi put down his pen and looked seriously at Fang Qian, "Go ahead."
Fang Qian said, "Lu Jiu just called me, saying he hopes to establish a cooperative relationship with our hospital, to directly send patients to us who urgently need surgery to solve their conditions."
Huang Qianqi frowned, "What does he mean by this?"
Fang Qian said, "I heard that their hospital is receiving more and more patients, and many have complex issues, like tumors growing outside the body needing surgery first and then TCM therapy. Currently, they have to send these patients to us for examinations and surgery, then send them back to their hospital for TCM treatment."
"So he is proposing whether we can establish a cooperative relationship, not for information exchange, but to open a direct surgery channel for them so that when they have patients needing surgery, they can connect directly with us to schedule the surgery, allowing their patients to come here directly for surgery, saving them the hassle of being shuttled between hospitals."
"Of course, since they diagnose first, he suggests that except for surgery-related checks, we should refrain from additional examinations, and if post-surgery there are complications, their hospital will take full responsibility, keeping us unaffected."
After listening, Huang Qianqi remained silent for a moment, "He’s quite considerate, but I doubt he wishes to cooperate simply to make things more convenient for patients."
"Moreover, we have no obligation to agree to him; even if he has these requests, many of our doctors wouldn’t agree. Saving money for patients can provide moral satisfaction, but a hospital isn’t a charity organization, doesn’t he understand that?"
Huang Qianqi spoke subtly, but his meaning was clear.
If I don’t cooperate with you, patients coming to our hospital will pay more in medical fees.
By cooperating, we only gain surgery fees and miss out on examination fees, hospitalization charges, medication costs. What’s in it for me?
Maintaining these medical devices isn’t free!?
Neglecting hospital operation costs in pursuit of moral principles is like fishing by draining the pond.
Fang Qian raised an eyebrow, "He also mentioned that after establishing cooperation, more people might flock to their hospital, using this direct channel model between the hospitals to bypass many of our examinations, and when these people go to their hospital, the examination fees they save will be earned by their doctors, of course, at possibly less than a tenth of our examination costs."
With eyes wide open, Huang Qianqi exclaimed, "This kid understands such outcomes might occur, yet dares to propose cooperation with us? Provocation!?"
Huang Qianqi hadn’t considered this aspect. If Fang Qian hadn’t pointed it out, he wouldn’t have realized that establishing this cooperation wouldn’t benefit them at all, but rather turn them into someone else’s stepping stone.
This Lu Jiu.
Knowing this method would drain their hospital’s resources, he still proposed it.
What does he intend!?
Fang Qian couldn’t help but laugh, "I’m puzzled too, but it’s not provocation. He was very earnest in his approach, sincerely proposing cooperation and suggesting that this model, though seemingly disadvantageous to us short-term, holds substantial long-term benefits, urging us not to focus solely on immediate profits."
Long-term benefits?
Huang Qianqi almost laughed out loud, not seeing any benefit at all.
"Then just tell him, no need, our hospital won’t collaborate."
Fang Qian hesitated for a moment, then continued, "Dean Huang, I think it’s necessary for us to have a serious discussion with him."
Huang Qianqi frowned, "Just because you had a paper published in Huaxia Medical Journal, you feel indebted to him? Such actions harming hospital interests won’t get approval even if I agree, understood!"
Fang Qian shook his head, "Dean Huang, I’m not advocating for him. He truthfully told me that if we don’t cooperate, soon their hospital will establish a surgical department, and when that time comes, we might not even have the opportunity to collaborate if we wanted to."
Huang Qianqi chuckled, "Ha, ha, ha, you exaggerate! They start a surgical department, and we, with decades of roots in Jianghan, will lose competitiveness? They... Wait, TCM Hospital establishing a surgical department? He aims to restructure the dominance of Chinese and Western medicine in Jianghan!?"
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