Chapter 407: The Head of Medical Affairs

Deng Bojun had been following Shi Niaoren in the Ministry of Health for some time. In the early days of Bairen General Hospital, despite the strong support of public health professionals, the daily operations of the hospital increasingly interfered with the clinical work of Shi Niaoren and others. Even though they were all doctors and masters, someone was needed to do the menial tasks—formally known as general affairs, logistics, and administration. This modern, somewhat specialized work was something that the native-born naturalized citizens could not take over for the time being.

Originally, this work was done by Zhao Yanmei’s husband, He Ping. However, as the pharmaceutical enterprises under the Ministry of Health continued to expand, it was a waste to keep He Ping, with his experience working in a pharmaceutical factory, in an administrative position. He was transferred to the Ministry of Health’s General Pharmaceutical and Equipment Factory to work alongside his wife.

With that, the general affairs position became vacant. The personnel department then selected a certain Deng, a shut-in who had been working as a librarian in the Great Library since the transmigration but had expressed a strong familiarity with “the medical and health industry,” to be responsible for the logistics and general affairs of Bairen General Hospital.

The first half of Mr. Deng’s life was a complete failure. As the son of a medical university professor, although he had a broader range of knowledge than his peers and a highly divergent way of thinking, he didn’t even get into high school. The professor, seeing that he was not cut out for serious study, sent him to join the army. He thought that no matter how aimless his son was, in the military environment, he would at least learn enough to get into a military academy. Unexpectedly, he couldn’t even handle being a telephone operator—a cushy job for a “young master soldier” in a certain compound who didn’t have to do drills—because he couldn’t remember the numbers. He hastily ended his one-year service and returned home to be idle for half a year.

The professor thought he should find a skilled trade for him. Thinking of his own years of experience in the field of ophthalmic refraction and his decent reputation and connections, he sent him to be an apprentice at an acquaintance’s optical shop, with the plan of opening his own shop under the professor’s advisory halo once he learned the trade. Just as Mr. Deng’s half-hearted apprenticeship was about to fall apart, the university where the professor worked, in order to accommodate the son of a certain retired big shot, suddenly issued a temporary resettlement document. Mr. Deng thus managed to get into the affiliated hospital of the medical university, becoming a gofer in the administrative building. When his life as a gofer once again ran into trouble, Mr. Deng resolutely joined the transmigration.

In Shi Niaoren’s view, Deng Bojun’s work in the medical affairs department was barely satisfactory. His only advantage over the naturalized citizens was that he could at least communicate with the Senator doctors without any barriers, knew what modern medicine was, and could spout countless terminologies and complete case files at any moment, enough to bluff the naturalized citizens. In this time and space, he was barely adequate as a department head.

Head Deng was the busiest person at Bairen General Hospital. He was in charge of all the daily necessities for the entire hospital and even the entire Ministry of Health. He could rarely have a conversation with anyone for more than three sentences without saying, “Brother, I’ve got something to take care of.” Naturally, he wouldn’t have come to Hong Kong for no reason. Shi Niaoren had sent him here for a purpose related to the medical tour, which of course included the preparatory work for the Provincial-Hong Kong Hospital.

Deng Bojun smiled without saying a word, following beside Minister Shi. The group was welcomed into the Hong Kong trading post building, where they were treated to the usual reception and entertainment before being settled into their guest rooms.

Because Minister Shi was a high-ranking cadre at the level of a People’s Commissar and had to be busy with a myriad of affairs at all times, his guest room was a suite, with an office in addition to the bedroom, for the visiting Senator to work and receive guests.

Shi Niaoren was physically and mentally exhausted after disembarking, but the medical tour to Guangzhou was different from those in the green and yellow zones. Although the Senate was now operating almost openly in Guangzhou, it was still enemy territory, at least an orange zone. He was still a little worried about leading a group of people deep into the “core area of Ming local rule,” even though Little Guo had beaten his chest and assured him there would be no problem.

“Director Shi,” Deng Bojun was not used to the Soviet-style titles of the Senate and still habitually used the titles from their old world, which sounded both familiar and professional, “I have already arranged for the medical tour to Guangzhou. You must be tired from your journey. Please rest here in Hong Kong for a few days before setting out.”

Shi Niaoren said, “Is everything ready in Guangzhou?”

“Yes, it’s set up at the Zichengji in Guangzhou. I’ve already sent Li Mo there to do the advance work.”

Although Li Mo was one of the first nurses, her academic performance was poor. She could never pass the nursing exams, and she struggled with all the professional courses. Shi Niaoren felt that she probably had no potential for development in this area; after much effort, she would at best be at the level of a caregiver. So he simply transferred her to the general affairs department. At least she could write and do arithmetic, and her Mandarin was not bad, so she was more than capable of assisting Deng Bojun.

She was sent to Guangzhou for advance work this time because she could speak excellent Guangzhou official dialect.

Shi Niaoren nodded. He knew what Deng Bojun was up to. This guy, though barely adequate as a department head, was extremely creative when it came to maneuvering and making money. For this medical tour to Guangzhou, Deng Bojun had volunteered to do the advance work, and he had even drafted the entire tour plan himself. Shi Niaoren had laughed when he saw it before setting out. “You’re dead set on building this Provincial-Hong Kong General Hospital, aren’t you?”

Originally, a medical tour was a relatively “simplified” affair, mainly involving internal medicine treatment and some minor outpatient surgery. Both the personnel and the medical supplies and equipment were quite simple.

But this time, the manpower and resources allocated for the Guangzhou tour were clearly a level above those for the Hainan and Leizhou tours. If Shi Niaoren hadn’t disagreed, and if the Planning Commission hadn’t vetoed it, Head Deng would probably have brought a mobile operating room to Guangzhou to show off.

“I only need one day of rest. I wonder how many days the Octopus needs for maintenance?”

“When I went to see Senator Shi just now, he said two days at most.” Deng Bojun said as he brought over a folder. “This is a draft proposal for the establishment of the Provincial-Hong Kong Hospital. Please review and approve it.”

Shi Niaoren took the proposal and looked at it. After reading it, he smiled and said, “Little Deng, this Provincial-Hong Kong Hospital of yours has quite the style of a private hospital…”

Deng Bojun sat down, frowning, with the corners of his mouth turned up in a mock smile. With his characteristic “half-smiling, half-serious” expression, he said in a low voice, “You know the situation the Ministry of Health is facing. Those people from Wudaokou are eyeing us covetously, constantly saying that the national finances are tight and there are many aspects to take care of, and that the expenses of the health system are too large… You certainly understand the meaning behind this monetized accounting and the medical insurance system reform that you rejected… I estimate that the next step for Wudaokou will be to come up with some kind of hospital management indicators, forcing our public hospitals to generate income so they can cut funding for the health and medical system.”

At the mention of management indicators, Director Shi became so angry that he cursed with several F-words and slammed the table, saying, “This is simply absurd, creating management indicators. As long as the funds are not wasted, that’s enough. Why manage so much? Public hospitals, as a public welfare unit, must be completely managed by experts and be thoroughly non-profit! What will it become if they implement these damn management indicators? Won’t it become a hospital run by the head of general affairs again! This kind of thing should be criticized and discredited, yet some people are still willing to praise it?!”

Deng Bojun waited for him to finish his tirade before saying, “Director Shi, you are right. The policy of public hospitals insisting on being non-profit must not be shaken for a hundred years. But the funding gap will definitely become larger and larger in the future. I don’t think Wudaokou will just let this go. The reason the Planning Commission is willing to open this door this time is, to put it bluntly, to let us raise our own funds to provide medical care—”

Shi Niaoren interrupted Deng Bojun, saying, “Let’s not talk about these extraneous topics. This intense medical industrialization you’re pushing—what’s with the high-class wards, special-grade nursing… Isn’t this clearly intended to serve the big landlords and bureaucrats? I’m afraid it goes against the Senate’s guiding principle of expanding influence and winning the hearts of the people.”

Deng Bojun said with confidence, “The guiding principle is just a principle. What matters is the result. We’re opening a hospital here, and no matter what, it’s hundreds of times better than the half-witch, half-doctor practitioners of this era. As long as we can cure people, we are expanding the influence of modern medicine and winning the hearts of the people. Besides, there’s still the option of medical loans.”

“Medical loans?” Minister Shi laughed. “Are you planning to go work for the Planning Commission? With the business model you’ve set up, I’m afraid an ordinary person would have to sell their house, their land, and then themselves into a lifetime of indentured servitude to get cured.”

“Indentured servitude is better than being dead. Besides, being an indentured servant to the Senate is much better than being a tenant farmer for those landlords, isn’t it?” Deng Bojun said unhurriedly. “Furthermore, this is also a bit of a tribute to those abacus-wielding penny-pinchers at Wudaokou, so they’ll be less likely to cut our budget. They’re happiest when there’s a loan business, aren’t they?”

Shi Niaoren thought to himself that although he talked a lot of nonsense and spouted hot air, his words made a lot of sense. He then circled his name on the document and handed it back to Deng Bojun.

“It still needs approval from many parties, so there’s no need for you to be in a hurry,” Shi Niaoren said. “It will inevitably be delayed in the Senate for a while.”

“Yes, of course. A matter of this magnitude must be handled with great caution,” Deng Bojun nodded repeatedly, then casually added, “To reduce financial expenditure, the Provincial-Hong Kong Hospital can be funded by multiple parties; it doesn’t have to rely entirely on government funding.” Deng Bojun finally revealed his trump card. “We can open up a portion to private capital. We can operate it like the Guangzhou Grand World project. Individual Senators can also invest…”

Shi Niaoren thought to himself, So that’s what he was waiting for. He considered it for a moment and said, “The specific sources of investment are not something I can decide on my own. It still depends on the intentions of the Planning Commission and the Central Political Affairs Council.”

“Yes, yes, of course, this must be handled according to the spirit of the Senate.” Deng Bojun smiled like a flower. “Director Shi, please rest first.”