I Can Talk to the Internal Organs

Chapter 380 - 346: Balance of Yin and Yang in Chinese and Western Medicine

"Dean Huang, have you been to our hospital?"

Facing Huang Qianqi’s doubt, Lu Jiu smiled slightly, exuding confidence.

"I have been there. Very good, from a patient’s perspective, I can’t find any faults," Huang Qianqi replied honestly.

Lu Jiu continued with a smile, "Would you recommend your friends and relatives to come to our hospital?"

Huang Qianqi hesitated, "If it’s minor illnesses and injuries, I would recommend it, but if surgery is required, then there’s no need."

Lu Jiu laughed, "But you need to know, if everyone’s minor illnesses and injuries are mitigated by us, would patients still need surgery?"

Huang Qianqi shook his head, "That’s impossible, many patients’ conditions are already serious when discovered, like tumors or cancer, which are in the middle or late stages by the time they are detected. How can a patient survive without surgical removal of the tumor?"

Lu Jiu smiled, "This involves the understanding of diseases by Chinese and Western medicine. From our point of view, tumors and cancer in the early stages, or rather, even before the early stages, are just symptoms that we can detect. As long as a patient comes to us in time, they can never develop cancer. Many illnesses are like this. The limitations of surgical treatment are too great; in fact, many illnesses only appear after surgery is performed. Director Fang should understand this."

Fang Qian, hearing this, appeared a bit awkward.

Lu Jiu was indeed stating a fact. Many diseases can’t be detected by medical instruments in their early stages.

In many clinical cases, patients come to the hospital feeling unwell, but the test results are normal. Only when the condition worsens to a certain degree do instruments detect irregular values.

As for surgery, it’s like patching up a problem. Except for trauma-related diseases, surgery in internal medicine has a very low cure rate, with many postoperative adverse reactions and sequelae.

Even a novice in Western medicine knows this quite well.

"At this stage, the limitations of surgical treatment are indeed significant. However, medicine is advancing, and as instruments become more advanced and techniques more refined, I believe many diseases can be cured through surgery," Fang Qian stated.

Lu Jiu smiled and did not argue.

This is simply because the theories are different.

In traditional Chinese medicine, internal diseases are impossible to completely cure without regulating the Five Viscera. No matter how advanced the equipment or how refined the techniques, as long as the approach is to cut where something isn’t working, surgical treatment will not undergo a fundamental leap forward with medical progress.

"Director Fang, you also mentioned that the current stage is indeed limited, right? Even if medicine advances, how much medical resources do you think Jianghan People’s Hospital can obtain?" Lu Jiu asked.

...

Once again, they fell into silence.

Indeed, if medical advancements occur, whether advanced equipment or refined techniques, they are often only available to large hospitals.

It’s challenging to disseminate them to smaller hospitals.

Money alone won’t be able to solve this.

They know that their hospital currently has only two CT machines.

Even after decades, many of Jianghan People’s Hospital’s medical devices are still far behind those in major cities.

Like during the early stages of an epidemic, Jianghan People’s Hospital didn’t even have the ability to detect positives and could only send patients to Hidden Dragon City for testing.

The result was that for a period, there were only two places with zero infection in Beihu: Jianghan and Dragon God Ridge.

The former couldn’t detect, and the latter had no one to test.

Therefore, whether or not medicine develops has little relationship with Jianghan People’s Hospital.

At least for the coming decades, it’s not something to think about.

"We’ve digressed. Weren’t we talking about your hospital?" Huang Qianqi interjected quickly.

Lu Jiu said, "Dean Huang, isn’t what I’ve said clear enough? If we only consider Jianghan, we indeed have a competitive relationship. But on a national scale, we are in a cooperative relationship. Traditional Chinese medicine has its advantages, and Western medicine has its advantages. If we can collaborate closely, we have the potential to go beyond Jianghan."

"Not long ago, I visited Jinling and received financial support from Wei Medical Hall. Our hospital has now established a cooperative relationship with them. We are sharing resources and platforms, and they’ve transferred a billion or two in funding, which is why our hospital has been able to expand continuously recently."

"Apart from money, we also have doctors. If you visit our hospital now, you’d also see an acupuncturist from De Hans, who we have invited for academic exchange. With these resources, our hospital will soon occupy Jianghan’s medical market. By then, what will Jianghan People’s Hospital do?"

"I don’t wish to become adversaries with you, nor do I wish to see your hospital encounter operational difficulties. However, without reconciliation, the two forms of medicine inherently conflict, which is why I’ve requested Director Fang to negotiate this collaboration. The goal is to establish a new framework for traditional Chinese and Western medicine cooperation within Jianghan, benefitting both of us and the local populace. What do you think?"

A billion or two!?

And foreign connections?

The three were once again shocked.

They knew Lu Jiu wasn’t lying, as they had heard about the sudden increase in doctors at Lu Jiu TCM Hospital.

They weren’t unfamiliar with the name Wei Medical Hall, a renowned private medical clinic in the field of Chinese medicine. They also have a company that specializes in selling traditional Chinese medicine formulas, with profits far beyond what small hospitals can achieve.

With the help of such a traditional Chinese medicine clinic, Lu Jiu’s words clearly carried more weight.

"Dean Lu, logically, with your current capital, you could entirely develop independently. Why keep a modest stance and insist on collaborating with us?" Li Dong finally spoke up. "Is it because you don’t want to become adversaries with us, or do you want Jianghan’s medical community to be dominated by traditional Chinese medicine?"

Clearly, the seasoned veteran didn’t believe in unprovoked goodwill.

Lu Jiu currently lacks neither funds nor personnel, and even the premises are partially rented and occasionally given by official sources.

At this rate, Lu Jiu TCM Hospital becoming Jianghan’s largest private hospital is almost a certainty.

In the long run, Jianghan People’s Hospital cannot rival it due to the vast disparity in medical resources.

Lu Jiu TCM Hospital could potentially match the provincial TCM hospitals in Beihu as it develops further.

So, Lu Jiu pursuing a cooperative relationship with People’s Hospital now seems somewhat unnecessary.

Lu Jiu smiled, "Secretary Li, if we don’t cooperate, do you think the future medical community in Jianghan would be dominated by traditional Chinese medicine?"

Li Dong replied calmly, "Yes."

He was well aware that Jianghan People’s Hospital no longer had the capability to vie for discourse power with Lu Jiu TCM Hospital.

This was determined by strength!

Lu Jiu continued, "Therefore, I wish to give People’s Hospital an opportunity—an opportunity to be our competitor and collaborator, rather than fighting to the bitter end."

Li Dong frowned, "What do you mean?"

Not only him, but Huang Qianqi and Fang Qian also didn’t understand.

Lu Jiu explained, "Extremes lead to reversal; prosperity leads to decline – these are unchanging truths throughout history. Jianghan, as a national pilot city for traditional Chinese medicine, requires a complete ecological structure, which means balancing Yin and Yang."

"The people here need traditional Chinese medicine, but they also need Western medicine. If Western medicine is too strong and traditional Chinese medicine dwindles, they will be at the mercy of Western medicine, and excessive medical checks are one consequence. Conversely, if traditional Chinese medicine is too strong and Western medicine shrinks, the people will also be at the mercy of traditional Chinese medicine, possibly being manipulated by practitioners with poor skills but excellent rhetoric."

"Even though our hospital’s current system can prevent such issues with doctors, any system has vulnerabilities, and discovering them is always postponed. The associated harm can never be perfectly compensated."

"Therefore, the best way to keep a system vigilant is to create a competitor!"

"I envision the rise of traditional Chinese medicine as a rise with competition and collaboration, providing the public with the freedom to choose their medical care, not a monopoly driven by greed!"

Hiss!

Isn’t this vision a bit too grand?

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