82 Pitfalls! Pitfalls! Pitfalls! (1/2)
It was now Zhang Fan and Wang Yanan's turn to receive a patient from Vice Director Chen Qi. An old retired government employee was suffering from a deformed right knee joint. Chen Qi had spent much time on finally succeeding in convincing him to get a knee replacement surgery.
At the current time in China, knee replacement surgery was one level higher in difficulty than hip replacement surgery. Although Chen Qi was the vice director of orthopedic department #2, Director Wang Dehua had yet to allow Chen Qi to be the primary surgeon for any knee replacement surgery, hip replacement surgery, or lumbar surgery.
Wang Dehua and Chen Qi had a good relationship with each other. However, it was typical for directors to reserve certain types of difficult and well-paying surgeries for themselves without letting anyone else do them. Chen Qi was about the same age as Wang Dehua, and similarly skilled. He was looking for an opportunity to make a breakthrough. Chen Qi saw such an opportunity in Zhang Fan's arrival at the department.
According to departmental legends, Zhang Fan had succeeded in being the primary surgeon for a hip replacement surgery in orthopedic department #1, scaring the two attending physicians there so much that they didn't dare to join the joints team with Zhang Fan. In that case, if Zhang Fan was able to successfully perform a knee replacement surgery, then Wang Dehua would no longer have any excuse to object to Chen Qi's performing similar surgeries. Chen Qi didn't want to sour his good relationship with Wang Dehua; however, there was far too much potential money to be made on these major surgeries, which made him really itching to try something.
Gao Shijun had Li Qiong as his personal medical equipment supplier. Wang Dehua's personal medical equipment supplier was named Niu Hailing. Both these merchants were capable of supplying provincial quality medical equipment. Meanwhile, despite Chen Qi having merely an extra ”vice” in his title, the medical equipment suppliers he could access were far lower in level. Previously, when Chen Qi's son went on a vacation overseas, his medical equipment supplier had been quite unwilling to pay for the plane tickets. This was all because he didn't bring enough benefits to the merchant.
This patient was an elderly man from before Mao Zedong's generation. He was already more than 90 years old. Less than 30 people in Chasu City were his age. He was still quite spirited despite his age. However, his knee joints had started deteriorating over the past two years, and he was no longer able to walk. Only then did his physical condition start to gradually worsen. His family ended up agreeing to the knee replacement surgery to help him live a few years longer.
The old patient had three sons and three daughters. His wife had passed away long ago. His three sons-in-law and daughters-in-law all stayed at home full-time to take care of him. Why were they so filial? There was only one reason. The old man's income was too high.
He received more than 10,000 yuan per month as a pension after retirement. Not only that—as such an old government employee, the government would pay for all of his medical expenses. Not only did his sons-in-laws and daughters-in-laws suck up to him, even his next-door neighbors needed to kiss his ass. It would be no problem for him to write off more than 100,000 yuan in medical expenses each month.
The old man's son brought his medical information to orthopedic department #2. ”May I ask who is Doctor Zhang Fan?”
”Oh, that's me.” Zhang Fan took the medical information. Whoa! The old man had directly requested a VIP patient room. Zhang Fan would need to go to the VIP section to treat the old man.
”My father's age is quite advanced. It's inconvenient for him to stay in the regular patient rooms. We'll be troubling Dr. Zhang to go over there.” The patient's son spoke quite politely.
”Okay, I'll go over right now to give him a checkup and prepare him for the surgery. How about you go to see him first? I'll be right over.”
”Sure.”
Zhang Fan knew that he had received a knee replacement surgery patient. He was really itching to perform surgery as he hadn't gotten to properly do so in several months. ”Wang Yanan, come with me. We're going over to the VIP section for our new patient.”
”What patient?”
”A surgery patient.”
”Won't it be troublesome if the patient is in the VIP section? We're going to have to go over there every day.”
”Let's go already. Is there any use in saying such things?” Zhang Fan and Wang Yanan walked over from the surgical department to the VIP patients' section.
When Zhang Fan arrived, he saw a spirited old man sitting in a wheelchair in the largest room of the VIP section. Several women were cleaning his bed for him. 'Such an extravagant VIP room still needs cleaning? He really knows how to enjoy his life,' Zhang Fan thought to himself.