I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 375 - 159: Upgrading Qiu City Street Health Center (Double-Length)_2

"What do you think?"

Yi Gang retorted, then said, "You’ve already mentioned it yourself, the building issue is easy to solve. We can allot it for the Traditional Chinese Medicine department right now without any issues; it’s just sitting there anyway. But the funding for renovating it into an inpatient department is no small sum. Can the Health Center afford it? If not, you’ll have to seek assistance from the Development and Reform Commission. Do you think their review will pass? Unless you can get support from above."

Get support from above?

Ma Shanjun had an embarrassed expression. As the head of a district health bureau, he was merely a cadre at the division level. No one above even knew him. How could he get support from above?

Though ’division-level cadre’ sounds impressive, in a deputy provincial city like Yong City, it really doesn’t count for much.

This path was blocked without even needing to consider it.

Moreover, if he could get support from above, he wouldn’t have had to specifically come to Yi Gang for help. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Besides, seeking help from above for such a small matter seemed like an overkill.

Seeing that Ma Shanjun wasn’t speaking, Yi Gang continued, "Let’s not talk about the funding for now. The most critical issue is the personnel allocation. That’s the toughest bit. Your project needs to at least get approval from the organization department, and even the city needs to agree. Without support from above, don’t even think about this project."

"Leader, is there any way to upgrade the status of Qiu City’s Health Center? Township Health Centers can definitely expand and become stronger, and also provide safe, effective, economical, and appropriate satisfactory medical services to the public." Ma Shanjun was still unwilling to give up. Even if he couldn’t accomplish this project, if the Health Center could upgrade its status, that would be just as good, if not better. Going from a Health Center directly to a secondary hospital was even better than what Hu Meiqiao’s proposed project was aiming for, but doing this would be way more challenging.

As expected, no sooner had Ma Shanjun proposed this idea than Yi Gang started to protest.

"There indeed are such precedents, but do you think Qiu City’s Health Center falls under this precedent? Does it even meet the conditions for an upgrade?"

Yi Gang said with irritation, "Not to mention anything else, just the number and quality of medical personnel at Qiu City Street Health Center don’t meet the standards. Secondary hospitals usually require a certain scale of hospital and medical staff, including full-time doctors and nurses. They also need to have practicing qualifications and professional skills.

Furthermore, medical facilities and equipment, including clinical laboratories, imaging departments, operating rooms, ICUs, and so forth, also don’t meet the standards you mentioned for this Health Center.

Of course, these aren’t even the most critical aspects yet."

Speaking up to this point, Yi Gang took a breath and said, "The most critical requirement for a secondary hospital is having no fewer than 100 medical staff, with at least 40 being doctors. Among them, a minimum of two must have senior professional titles, and at least eight must have deputy senior titles. Additionally, a secondary hospital needs a certain number of hospital beds, along with management capabilities for patient, bed, and scheduling management, and the ability to offer medical services beyond basic diagnosis and treatment.

Management should include a chest pain center, a stroke center, an emergency center, an ICU, a nuclear medicine department, and such medical departments..."

Yi Gang took a breath: "Ma Shanjun, tell me, what criteria does this Qiu City Health Center meet?"

Ma Shanjun was too embarrassed to speak.

"Let me tell you, it meets none of the criteria."

Yi Gang’s voice suddenly got louder, and he said angrily, "If it doesn’t meet any criteria, can it still be upgraded? If someone else asked me this question, I wouldn’t say a thing. Those outside this field naturally don’t understand, and asking such questions is normal. But you, as a health bureau director, also ask this question. I can’t help but wonder how you, Ma Shanjun, got to your position in the first place."

After finishing his words, Yi Gang threw the materials onto the table, clearly genuinely angry.

Ma Shanjun realized that his question was substandard. He knew full well the conditions for upgrading the health center, but he still hoped Yi Gang might find some solutions. Unexpectedly, he ended up provoking Yi Gang’s anger instead.

He could only give an awkward smile, taking quite a while for Yi Gang’s temper to subside.

Of course, Yi Gang understood Ma Shanjun’s intentions and finally said earnestly, "Old Ma, the one who made you come here for a scolding must be someone from your old team, right?"

"Yes, it’s an old subordinate from my hospital days, Hu Meiqiao. Now she’s the director of the Qiu City Street Health Center. To keep that doctor named Lu Xuan, she wants to achieve something significant, so she initiated such a project. I couldn’t stand up to the female staff and had no choice but to agree."

Ma Shanjun said helplessly, "You know how soft-hearted I am. I can reject others coldly, but with her, I just can’t do it. I had to agree, knowing full well this project’s application is extremely challenging, possibly impossible. I just wanted to give it a try by coming here."

"Hu Meiqiao?"

"I’ve heard of her, but we’re not close."

Yi Gang nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Your project isn’t entirely without hope. You’ll need to seek support from above. Without support from above, neither you nor I could push it through."

Seek support from above?

Who knows me there at all!

Ma Shanjun smiled bitterly, "Getting support from above seems more unlikely than running the project myself. After all, as a mere division-level cadre, I wouldn’t even know how to approach those halls to seek support."

Hearing this, Yi Gang nodded slightly.

Not just for Ma Shanjun; even for him as a deputy district chief, it’s the same.