“Doctor Xiang, you’re here.”
“Doctor Xiang, come and take a look.”
“Doctor Xiang, this is the rooster given by Bed 2. Take it back and eat it.”
Within two weeks, Xiang Xueming gained his footing in the hospital branch. Regardless of the nurse, care worker, or even the old patients who always came, they all politely granted him the title of doctor before his surname.
Although Xiang Xueming missed the bustling life in the big city, the advanced technology in Yun Hua Hospital, and operating theaters of Yun Hua Hospital, his resentment on coming to the hospital branch had reduced by a large degree.
It was something pleasant to be respected by others. Moreover, he was allowed to be the chief surgeon here.
Bazhaixiang was located in a remote area, and the road was rough and difficult to tread. But this place produced tea leaves, and there were also a lot of fruit trees planted in it. So, the average income of the people here was quite good, and the population was huge.
When the local people ran into emergencies in the past, they were all sent to Yun Hua City.
Due to the difficult mountain road, when the patient reached the hospital, the minor illness would have become more serious, and those with major illnesses would have died.
This was the reason behind why Bazhaixiang hospital branch, which was supported by Cangping District Hospital, was built. When it was first built, it was based on the blueprint of a standard hospital. Even though the standard was low, there were operating theaters, laparoscopes, microscopes, and such devices. Even though the hospital was small, it was well-equipped, and it could perform most of the emergency surgeries. There were a total of twenty hospital beds in the hospital, and it was capable of providing intensive care.
When Xiang Xueming performed surgery at Bazhaixiang hospital branch, no one would try to snatch his surgeries.
Zeng Xingteng was seven or eight years older than him, but since he came from a district hospital, and the experience in the hospital branch caused him to be equipped with limited knowledge on emergency skills, especially when it came to using laparoscopes and other such slightly more modern technology.
Although Xiang Xueming was not very confident, he had observed the surgery for a few times, and he also participated in a few surgeries.
Although he did very little work and even did not have experience for being the chief surgeon for most of the surgical procedures, he “was forced” to perform surgeries in Bazhaixiang, with its limited condition, and this made Xiang Xueming improve very fast.
“Xueming.” Zeng Xingteng had been waiting for a long time in the office, and he was all smiles.
“Doctor Zeng.” Xiang Xueming spoke politely like a student.
“Call me Old Zeng, it’ll be enough.” As Zeng Xingteng spoke, he stood up and closed the office door before he took out an envelope. “Count it.”
Xiang Xueming had some thoughts on what it was. He took it over but still asked, “What is this?”
“The amount given by the pharmaceutical sales company,” Zeng Xingteng said without hesitation, “Each of us takes half. There’s no problem with it, right?”
“Sure.” Xiang Xueming held the envelope. He wanted to open it and check, but he felt shy.
“Count the money. Do it before me so that we won’t have any misunderstanding later.”
“Okay.”
Xiang Xueming opened the envelope and saw a huge stack of red banknotes when he took out the money. When he held it, he felt that it was heavy.
Xiang Xueming suddenly began sweating on his back.
He rarely came into contact with such a huge amount of money.
Forget about the fact that his parents had been the ones who banked in his school fees into his bank card. Even when he was an intern at Yun Hua, he only had a few hundred RMB as an allowance. Sometimes, Ling Ran would bring him out to become a freelance assistant, but he did not earn much from there either.
“How much is this?” Xiang Xueming did not want to count the money in front of Zeng Xingteng. He did not know how to count the money in a speedy way, and counting the banknotes one by one would make him look very silly.
Zeng Xingteng smiled and did not persist in hiding the secret anymore. He said, “5,450 RMB.”
“So much?” Xiang Xueming was shocked.
“This is for two weeks. They cleared their bill in one go.” Zeng Xingteng paused for a moment before he said, “We used to send the patients who needed surgery away or just received patients who completed their surgeries here. It’s different this time. The patient completed their entire treatment here.”
Bazhaixiang hospital branch would only ever receive the locals as patients, and there was a limited number of them. Naturally, when they sent one away, they will have one less patient to treat.
Correspondingly, if they did not send anyone away, the doctors would have a stable salary.
Xiang Xueming made a rough calculation. ‘If the salary for half a month is 5,450 RMB, medicine fees for a month would be 12,000 RMB.’
This was not a small amount for the salary of a resident doctor.
After all, he still had his personal salary and the average bonus from the district hospital.
“Since there are only two of us, let’s grab this opportunity to perform a few more surgeries.” Zeng Xingteng smiled like a farmer who gained a great harvest.
Xiang Xueming nodded gently and said, “We’ll need patients as well.”
Yun Hua Hospital was always lacking in hospital beds. However, when it came to primary hospitals in the local region, they would end up with an insufficient number of patients.
Zeng Xingteng already had some ideas, so he said, “Do you know about how villagers can claim insurance using the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care?”
Xiang Xueming shook his head.
“Let’s not talk about it in-depth. In general, if the patient wants to use the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care, they can claim 60% of their medical fees in primary level township hospitals, 40% in secondary level township hospitals, and 30% at tertiary level township hospitals. Also, if the patient suffers from a major illness and the treatment costs more than 5,000 RMB, they will receive compensation. But if we performed appendicitis, that would be around 5,000 RMB, right?”
Xiang Xueming seemed to have understood. He could not help but look at Zeng Xingteng.
“If they want to save money for normal diseases, primary level hospitals like ours will be the most economical.” Zeng Xingteng pursed his lips and said, “20% of 5,000 RMB would be 1,000 RMB. The city people may not care about this, but in places like Bazhaixiang, everyone will want to save their own money whenever possible.”
“That’s not all.” Xiang Xueming sighed. He had a deeper understanding of money issues.
“Anyway, let’s just do our best. If we can’t help the patient, we will send them off to the district hospital or even the higher-class hospitals.” Zeng Xingteng stopped for a few seconds before he said, “There is something different between us and the hospital in the city. It takes a longer time for us to refer cases to other hospitals. That’s why you can make instantaneous decisions for some emergency cases.”
“What if… there is medical negligence?”
Zeng Xingteng pursed his lips. “The hospital branch will only be up to this standard. If people want to cause trouble, we can just shut down operations.”
“Shut up…”
“Isn’t it good to have holidays?” Zeng Xingteng shrugged and said, “Since we’re already at this stage, what else can we do? If worse comes to worst, we can just get sacked.”
Most of the doctors in the hospital branch were not authorized personnel and were only contracted. They had less protection as compared to authorized doctors, but they would not have many of the worries authorized doctors had.
Just like what Zeng Xingteng said, what kind of worries would those doctors who came to the Bazhaixiang hospital branch have?
They would not earn more or learn more compared to the doctors in the district hospital. Maybe they would have a better understanding of the condition of the towns and villages in China, but the doctors would obviously want to learn something related to the medical field…
When Xiang Xueming, who had just received 5,450 RMB, thought about being sacked, his expression was calm.
If it were not because he was unable to pay that 80,000 RMB of promissory liquidated damages, Xiang Xueming would already want to resign.
“I understand. We’ll do what we can.”
“That’s right.” Zeng Xingteng happily clenched his envelope.
His mood was quite good, as he obtained double his income without doing much.
After all, he had gradually accepted the various things in Bazhaixiang hospital branch.
“But we do have quite a lot of patients in our branch.” When Xiang Xueming started to accept the fact, his brain started to function again, and he said, “I transferred seven to eight patients over the past two weeks. Some of them had been with enteritis, cholecystitis, and bone fractures, but if they are in Yun Hua Hospital, all of them are considered as minor surgeries.”
“Huh?”
“I can look for my previous colleagues to come to our branch and perform freelance surgeries, right?” Xiang Xueming rambled on and said, “There’re a total of twenty hospital beds, and we used up ten at most. Let’s use the remaining ten for freelance surgeries.”
“Freelance surgery?” This was Zeng Xingteng’s knowledge blindspot. Since he had lived in Bazhaixiang for a few more years compared to other people, forget about becoming a freelance surgeon for others, he had only ever heard about inviting freelance surgeons but had never seen it before.
Xiang Xueming was very familiar with this, so he immediately nodded and said, “Doctor Ling from my previous treatment group always goes for freelance surgery, but he likes to perform one particular surgery. I can also invite other doctors to come over as well.”
“From Yun Hua Hospital?”
“Yes. Since we will need six hours to come back and forth, I can invite some attending physicians over here for three surgeries. It is still okay if I charge them for 2,000 RMB, right?” Xiang Xueming made some calculations.
“The money will be paid by the patient?” Zeng Xingteng wanted to be certain of it.
“They will be paid by the patient. They will save up some money with their insurance, and they even get treatment that is at the level of Yun Hua Hospital. We can even get the medicinal fees, it’s a win-win situation, right?” Xiang Xueming did not say something: he could become the assistant for the attending physician from Yun Hua Hospital and continue to upgrade his skill.
Most of the department directors in the county hospital learned this way. The efficiency would not be as high as the resident doctors and attending physicians from tertiary Grade A hospitals, but they would still have a chance to learn.
Zeng Xingteng thought about it and noticed Xiang Xueming’s idea. He did not oppose it. He looked around and said, “You need to first inform the nurses. Our hospital branch is unlike the hospital, the nurses stay here longer than us.”
“I don’t want the medicinal fees from the patients who came here for freelance surgeries. You can give my share to the nurses.” Xiang Xueming’s decision was firm.
Zeng Xingteng smiled. “Alright, you have a bright future ahead of you, boy.”
“Doctor Xiang, you’re here.”
“Doctor Xiang, come and take a look.”
“Doctor Xiang, this is the rooster given by Bed 2. Take it back and eat it.”
Within two weeks, Xiang Xueming gained his footing in the hospital branch. Regardless of the nurse, care worker, or even the old patients who always came, they all politely granted him the title of doctor before his surname.
Although Xiang Xueming missed the bustling life in the big city, the advanced technology in Yun Hua Hospital, and operating theaters of Yun Hua Hospital, his resentment on coming to the hospital branch had reduced by a large degree.
It was something pleasant to be respected by others. Moreover, he was allowed to be the chief surgeon here.
Bazhaixiang was located in a remote area, and the road was rough and difficult to tread. But this place produced tea leaves, and there were also a lot of fruit trees planted in it. So, the average income of the people here was quite good, and the population was huge.
When the local people ran into emergencies in the past, they were all sent to Yun Hua City.
Due to the difficult mountain road, when the patient reached the hospital, the minor illness would have become more serious, and those with major illnesses would have died.
This was the reason behind why Bazhaixiang hospital branch, which was supported by Cangping District Hospital, was built. When it was first built, it was based on the blueprint of a standard hospital. Even though the standard was low, there were operating theaters, laparoscopes, microscopes, and such devices. Even though the hospital was small, it was well-equipped, and it could perform most of the emergency surgeries. There were a total of twenty hospital beds in the hospital, and it was capable of providing intensive care.
When Xiang Xueming performed surgery at Bazhaixiang hospital branch, no one would try to snatch his surgeries.
Zeng Xingteng was seven or eight years older than him, but since he came from a district hospital, and the experience in the hospital branch caused him to be equipped with limited knowledge on emergency skills, especially when it came to using laparoscopes and other such slightly more modern technology.
Although Xiang Xueming was not very confident, he had observed the surgery for a few times, and he also participated in a few surgeries.
Although he did very little work and even did not have experience for being the chief surgeon for most of the surgical procedures, he “was forced” to perform surgeries in Bazhaixiang, with its limited condition, and this made Xiang Xueming improve very fast.
“Xueming.” Zeng Xingteng had been waiting for a long time in the office, and he was all smiles.
“Doctor Zeng.” Xiang Xueming spoke politely like a student.
“Call me Old Zeng, it’ll be enough.” As Zeng Xingteng spoke, he stood up and closed the office door before he took out an envelope. “Count it.”
Xiang Xueming had some thoughts on what it was. He took it over but still asked, “What is this?”
“The amount given by the pharmaceutical sales company,” Zeng Xingteng said without hesitation, “Each of us takes half. There’s no problem with it, right?”
“Sure.” Xiang Xueming held the envelope. He wanted to open it and check, but he felt shy.
“Count the money. Do it before me so that we won’t have any misunderstanding later.”
“Okay.”
Xiang Xueming opened the envelope and saw a huge stack of red banknotes when he took out the money. When he held it, he felt that it was heavy.
Xiang Xueming suddenly began sweating on his back.
He rarely came into contact with such a huge amount of money.
Forget about the fact that his parents had been the ones who banked in his school fees into his bank card. Even when he was an intern at Yun Hua, he only had a few hundred RMB as an allowance. Sometimes, Ling Ran would bring him out to become a freelance assistant, but he did not earn much from there either.
“How much is this?” Xiang Xueming did not want to count the money in front of Zeng Xingteng. He did not know how to count the money in a speedy way, and counting the banknotes one by one would make him look very silly.
Zeng Xingteng smiled and did not persist in hiding the secret anymore. He said, “5,450 RMB.”
“So much?” Xiang Xueming was shocked.
“This is for two weeks. They cleared their bill in one go.” Zeng Xingteng paused for a moment before he said, “We used to send the patients who needed surgery away or just received patients who completed their surgeries here. It’s different this time. The patient completed their entire treatment here.”
Bazhaixiang hospital branch would only ever receive the locals as patients, and there was a limited number of them. Naturally, when they sent one away, they will have one less patient to treat.
Correspondingly, if they did not send anyone away, the doctors would have a stable salary.
Xiang Xueming made a rough calculation. ‘If the salary for half a month is 5,450 RMB, medicine fees for a month would be 12,000 RMB.’
This was not a small amount for the salary of a resident doctor.
After all, he still had his personal salary and the average bonus from the district hospital.
“Since there are only two of us, let’s grab this opportunity to perform a few more surgeries.” Zeng Xingteng smiled like a farmer who gained a great harvest.
Xiang Xueming nodded gently and said, “We’ll need patients as well.”
Yun Hua Hospital was always lacking in hospital beds. However, when it came to primary hospitals in the local region, they would end up with an insufficient number of patients.
Zeng Xingteng already had some ideas, so he said, “Do you know about how villagers can claim insurance using the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care?”
Xiang Xueming shook his head.
“Let’s not talk about it in-depth. In general, if the patient wants to use the New Rural Cooperative Medical Care, they can claim 60% of their medical fees in primary level township hospitals, 40% in secondary level township hospitals, and 30% at tertiary level township hospitals. Also, if the patient suffers from a major illness and the treatment costs more than 5,000 RMB, they will receive compensation. But if we performed appendicitis, that would be around 5,000 RMB, right?”
Xiang Xueming seemed to have understood. He could not help but look at Zeng Xingteng.
“If they want to save money for normal diseases, primary level hospitals like ours will be the most economical.” Zeng Xingteng pursed his lips and said, “20% of 5,000 RMB would be 1,000 RMB. The city people may not care about this, but in places like Bazhaixiang, everyone will want to save their own money whenever possible.”
“That’s not all.” Xiang Xueming sighed. He had a deeper understanding of money issues.
“Anyway, let’s just do our best. If we can’t help the patient, we will send them off to the district hospital or even the higher-class hospitals.” Zeng Xingteng stopped for a few seconds before he said, “There is something different between us and the hospital in the city. It takes a longer time for us to refer cases to other hospitals. That’s why you can make instantaneous decisions for some emergency cases.”
“What if… there is medical negligence?”
Zeng Xingteng pursed his lips. “The hospital branch will only be up to this standard. If people want to cause trouble, we can just shut down operations.”
“Shut up…”
“Isn’t it good to have holidays?” Zeng Xingteng shrugged and said, “Since we’re already at this stage, what else can we do? If worse comes to worst, we can just get sacked.”
Most of the doctors in the hospital branch were not authorized personnel and were only contracted. They had less protection as compared to authorized doctors, but they would not have many of the worries authorized doctors had.
Just like what Zeng Xingteng said, what kind of worries would those doctors who came to the Bazhaixiang hospital branch have?
They would not earn more or learn more compared to the doctors in the district hospital. Maybe they would have a better understanding of the condition of the towns and villages in China, but the doctors would obviously want to learn something related to the medical field…
When Xiang Xueming, who had just received 5,450 RMB, thought about being sacked, his expression was calm.
If it were not because he was unable to pay that 80,000 RMB of promissory liquidated damages, Xiang Xueming would already want to resign.
“I understand. We’ll do what we can.”
“That’s right.” Zeng Xingteng happily clenched his envelope.
His mood was quite good, as he obtained double his income without doing much.
After all, he had gradually accepted the various things in Bazhaixiang hospital branch.
“But we do have quite a lot of patients in our branch.” When Xiang Xueming started to accept the fact, his brain started to function again, and he said, “I transferred seven to eight patients over the past two weeks. Some of them had been with enteritis, cholecystitis, and bone fractures, but if they are in Yun Hua Hospital, all of them are considered as minor surgeries.”
“Huh?”
“I can look for my previous colleagues to come to our branch and perform freelance surgeries, right?” Xiang Xueming rambled on and said, “There’re a total of twenty hospital beds, and we used up ten at most. Let’s use the remaining ten for freelance surgeries.”
“Freelance surgery?” This was Zeng Xingteng’s knowledge blindspot. Since he had lived in Bazhaixiang for a few more years compared to other people, forget about becoming a freelance surgeon for others, he had only ever heard about inviting freelance surgeons but had never seen it before.
Xiang Xueming was very familiar with this, so he immediately nodded and said, “Doctor Ling from my previous treatment group always goes for freelance surgery, but he likes to perform one particular surgery. I can also invite other doctors to come over as well.”
“From Yun Hua Hospital?”
“Yes. Since we will need six hours to come back and forth, I can invite some attending physicians over here for three surgeries. It is still okay if I charge them for 2,000 RMB, right?” Xiang Xueming made some calculations.
“The money will be paid by the patient?” Zeng Xingteng wanted to be certain of it.
“They will be paid by the patient. They will save up some money with their insurance, and they even get treatment that is at the level of Yun Hua Hospital. We can even get the medicinal fees, it’s a win-win situation, right?” Xiang Xueming did not say something: he could become the assistant for the attending physician from Yun Hua Hospital and continue to upgrade his skill.
Most of the department directors in the county hospital learned this way. The efficiency would not be as high as the resident doctors and attending physicians from tertiary Grade A hospitals, but they would still have a chance to learn.
Zeng Xingteng thought about it and noticed Xiang Xueming’s idea. He did not oppose it. He looked around and said, “You need to first inform the nurses. Our hospital branch is unlike the hospital, the nurses stay here longer than us.”
“I don’t want the medicinal fees from the patients who came here for freelance surgeries. You can give my share to the nurses.” Xiang Xueming’s decision was firm.
Zeng Xingteng smiled. “Alright, you have a bright future ahead of you, boy.”
