Chapter 209: Reform of the County Hospital

Lu Fan first stepped into the spacious and bright hospital outpatient hall, where his eyes were met with a bustling crowd. Some patients were queuing in an orderly fashion to register; others were waiting patiently in front of the payment windows; still others were at the pharmacy counter collecting the medicines they needed, while the medical staff were all busy rushing about.

He randomly selected a few patients to chat with.

Everyone generally recognized the hospital's medical standards, noting they were better than those of the township hospitals.

However, they also complained that the medical treatment process was too cumbersome, often requiring a large amount of time spent waiting in lines.

They also felt that there were too few staff in each department, and sometimes they had to wait a long time just to use the restroom.

After understanding these circumstances, Lu Fan came to the hospital's logistics and administrative departments; they were actually occupying the fifth and sixth floors of the entire outpatient building!

Upon reaching the fifth floor, Lu Fan wandered around as if nothing were the matter, peeking into several doorways. Some offices appeared busy. However, the situation in some departments made Lu Fan frown—some staff members were chatting while playing on their phones in a lackadaisical manner, forming a stark contrast to the busyness of the clinical departments. The phenomenon of people holding positions without doing actual work was worrying!

Upon reaching the sixth floor, one could see the door to the hospital president's office wide open, with President Hu Xinliang sitting at his desk, busy writing and taking notes.

Walking a bit further, the door to the hospital Party Committee Secretary's office was tightly shut.

The departments on the sixth floor included the Finance Section, Publicity Section, Personnel Section, Party Office, Youth League and Women's Federation, Logistics Office, etc. Only one or two office doors were open; the rest were all tightly closed.

After looking around, Lu Fan knocked on the door of the Party Committee Secretary's office, intending to talk to him about the hospital's situation.

To his surprise, there was no response after several knocks, so he continued to knock.

Soon, Hu Xinliang, the hospital president next door, came out and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Once Lu Fan removed his sunglasses, Hu Xinliang hurriedly stepped forward to shake his hand, saying with a full face of smiles, "County Chief Lu, why didn't you give us a heads-up? Welcome to the county hospital to inspect and guide our work!"

Lu Fan raised the corner of his mouth and smiled, "Just dropped by to take a look. Is Yuan Gang not here?"

Just then, the door to Yuan Gang's office slowly opened, but the person who walked out was a female cadre. Her face was slightly flushed, and her hair was somewhat disheveled.

When she noticed Lu Fan and the hospital president standing at the door, her eyes darted around, and she appeared slightly flustered. She hurriedly greeted, "Hello, President," and then walked quickly back to the office next door.

Lu Fan's brows furrowed slightly, as if he had sensed something unusual, and the phrase "licentiousness in broad daylight" came to mind!

At this moment, Yuan Gang's voice came from inside the room: "Old Hu, I was just checking the accounts with Finance. Come on in!"

After Lu Fan walked into the office, Yuan Gang, who had been looking down at some documents, instinctively looked up. But it was this one glance that left him stunned.

The person before him was actually Deputy County Chief Lu Fan! A look of disbelief appeared on his face, as if he had seen something inconceivable.

Yuan Gang dared not be negligent; he hurriedly stood up, walked around the desk, and quickly approached Lu Fan. He gripped Lu Fan's hand with both of his own, saying with immense enthusiasm, "Welcome, County Chief Lu, for gracing our county hospital with your presence to inspect and guide our work! It truly makes our humble place shine! Please, have a seat!"

After saying this, Yuan Gang hurriedly turned to pour tea for Lu Fan himself.

He carefully took out his best tea leaves, pondering the "accident" that had just occurred.

After brewing the tea, he carried the cup to Lu Fan and said respectfully, "County Chief Lu, please have some tea! I was just checking the financial situation for January and February this year. Please forgive me if there was any neglect, County Chief Lu!"

Lu Fan did not pursue the matter further; such things were impossible to investigate anyway. He smiled and said, "I wandered around downstairs for a while, and the hospital does have certain problems. How about this, President Hu, give Director Li Daqiang a call and have him come over now. We'll chat together about the reform of the county hospital!"

Hu Xinliang immediately began dialing the phone. Yuan Gang's heart skipped a beat upon hearing the word "reform." He thought to himself, isn't everything fine right now? Why reform? Doesn't reform imply that there are major problems? Always stirring up trouble!

In less than ten minutes, Li Daqiang arrived in a rush. Upon entering, he didn't say much, maintaining an attitude of following Lu Fan's lead.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Lu Fan said, "Today, I discussed the problems existing in the county hospital with the County Chief. It cannot be denied that the county hospital has some issues, especially the bloated administrative and logistics staff, which has made the County Chief very angry. Also, there is the issue of seconded staff at the county hospital, which must be resolved as soon as possible. I pestered the County Chief and managed to secure ten career establishment quotas for you. Let's discuss today how to resolve these two problems."

Li Daqiang cleared his throat and said, "County Chief Lu, according to your instructions, I have also considered these problems during this time. Personally, I think the direction for the county hospital's reform should be: 'No idle people, no lazy people, and no loss of capable people'!"

"Of course, a hospital is a social institution. To gain a foothold in society, it is inevitable to have all kinds of connections. So, let's speak plainly today. Generally, those who work in administration and logistics have their own paths. But it cannot be denied that among these people, many were once business backbones, and some even started enjoying a life of leisure while still young! How to get them back to frontline positions, I think this is the difficulty of the reform."

In this regard, Party Committee Secretary Yuan Gang had the most say. He could be considered all-powerful in the county hospital, with almost all personnel arrangements decided by him alone. Looking at the staff in each department now, many were transferred from young and beautiful nurses. It is no exaggeration to say that if one were to vote for which unit in the county had the most and the most beautiful women in administrative positions, the county hospital would undoubtedly win the championship!

Some even said that Yuan Gang was the most comfortable leader in the county, and he wouldn't trade his position for a Bureau Director!

After thinking for a while, Yuan Gang said, "Thank you, County Chief Lu, for your concern and support for the county hospital. The 10 quotas are simply timely help, which can effectively solve the treatment problem for the backbone staff. As for what Director Li just said, about letting administrative staff return to frontline positions, I absolutely support it. However, frontline positions have their roles, and administrative positions are also indispensable, so the intensity of this needs to be considered."

Lu Fan said, "Tell me about the situation of the administrative and logistics staff first."

Yuan Gang was clear about this situation and immediately reported, "County Chief Lu, the county hospital has 202 official establishment quotas, 62 retired personnel, and 140 on the payroll; there are 330 cadres and staff, including 56 temporary staff and 134 seconded from township health centers; there are 255 in frontline departments and 75 in administrative and logistics..."

As he listened, Lu Fan's brows could not help but furrow. After Yuan Gang finished reporting, he said, "Does a hospital need a Party Office and a Hospital Office? I listened for a long time, and your county hospital actually has so many departments, each with at least 4 people. Is it really necessary? 5 people in the Publicity Section—does the county hospital have such heavy publicity tasks? Also, I would like to know what the original positions of these administrative and logistics staff were."

Yuan Gang was helpless and began to report one by one according to the roster.

After listening to the report, it was just as Lu Fan had expected: these personnel were all transferred from frontline positions, including head nurses and professionals who had changed their roles.

Lu Fan did not continue to express his opinion, but instead said, "President Hu, you are in charge of operations. Can you spare some time after work? I would like to find a few clinical staff members for a symposium."

Hu Xinliang immediately said, "Okay, County Chief Lu, I will arrange it right now."

Yuan Gang was slightly embarrassed; this was originally his job, but he could only follow the leader's arrangements.

At 5:30, Lu Fan, accompanied by Health Bureau Director Li Daqiang and Party Committee Secretary Yuan Gang, came to the county hospital's conference room, where more than a dozen doctors and nurses were already seated.

Lu Fan smiled and said, "Sorry to disturb your time after work."

Hu Xinliang said, "County Chief Lu, upon hearing that they would be having a symposium with you, our medical staff were very enthusiastic and all signed up voluntarily."

Lu Fan smiled, "Let's get straight to the point. I invited everyone here to investigate a few problems: one is the establishment quota problem, and the other is the issue of frontline versus administrative and logistics staff. If there are others, you can bring them up too. I hope everyone can speak freely and frankly so that the county government can find the crux of the problems and solve them."

A doctor said, "County Chief Lu, I am very happy that you could come to the county hospital to investigate! I am a doctor in the Internal Medicine Department. My establishment quota is in the township, so let me talk about the establishment quota problem first. I am 45 years old this year and have been at the county hospital for a full 15 years. I can be considered the most senior among the seconded staff! To tell you the truth, sometimes I really don't have confidence in my work. Because the establishment quota cannot be resolved, many things are affected, such as promotions, treatment, professional titles, etc..."

Lu Fan took notes seriously. After he finished speaking, he said to Health Bureau Director Li Daqiang, "Such comrades have made great contributions to the development of the county hospital. This time, we must prioritize resolving their establishment quota problems!"

This doctor was very excited upon hearing this. He didn't expect that by accidentally attending a symposium, the County Chief would publicly state that he would resolve his establishment quota problem. It was truly a case of "tripping and picking up a gold bar"—sheer luck!

Another doctor said, "County Chief Lu, the hospital knows that I have a straightforward temper and love to tell the truth, which easily offends people. I hope you don't mind!"

Lu Fan smiled, "I love to hear the truth. Feel free to speak!"

"Okay, then I'll say it! We are frontline clinical doctors. We take risks every day when on duty. When we have matters like promotions, further studies, or reimbursement, we go to the hospital's administrative and logistics departments, and we often encounter cold faces, procrastination, or simply no one there. I just don't understand: we are the ones working hard on the front lines to earn money to support you, yet you act like masters? I think the county hospital should cut logistics the most, reduce administration, and properly protect the frontline clinical staff!"

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