Chapter 535

After the meeting, Liu Linghao followed Tang Bing Secretary to the office; upon entering, he said, "Secretary, Comrade Jia Yu really surprised me!"

Tang Bing nodded and said, "The matter of Lu Fan's promotion has just been put on the agenda; recommending the Municipal Party Secretary of Nanyuan City now is indeed a bit premature."

Liu Linghao said, "Nanyuan City is currently at a critical juncture and very likely to become Huayuan Province's second trillion‑GDP city, which is of great significance. My view is that even if Lu Fan is promoted to the provincial level, Nanyuan's work cannot be neglected; at the very least we must hold on until year‑end. Changing the person serving as Municipal Party Secretary worries me—it could affect Nanyuan's overall development; special circumstances should be treated specially."

"We think alike—changing commanders in the heat of battle is a major taboo. All of Nanyuan's work is in Lu Fan's mind; only he can grasp the big picture. If someone else steps in, they'd still need to get up to speed; Nanyuan can't afford delay, and Huayuan Province can't either! The trillion‑GDP target must be reached no matter what. Linghao, what do you think of Lei Xingxing? After all, Comrade Jia Yu formally recommended him."

Liu Linghao thought a moment and said, "Secretary, after Nanyuan reaches the trillion‑GDP mark, tomorrow we still need to figure out how to steady our footing; we can't just stay at that level for only a year. For the sake of continuity, I recommend that Mayor Su Xiang Hai take over as Municipal Party Secretary—he's Lu Fan's aide, knows Nanyuan's current policies inside out, and is the most suitable and stable choice. As for Lei Xingxing, his strengths are obvious, but his weaknesses are also clear; I feel he still needs more seasoning."

Tang Bing pondered, then said, "Regarding the 'successor,' I will seek Lu Fan's opinion; discussing this now is still premature—at least let Lu Fan's situation become clearer. Tomorrow you hold down the fort, I'll go to Jingcheng to report specifically on Lu Fan's matters."

"All right, Secretary, go ahead without worry; I'll tabulate the May Day holiday data and report it to you when you return."

Liu Linghao had just stepped out when the head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department, Qin Mengyang, pushed the door open; he actually had the same purpose as Discipline Inspection Committee Secretary Hu Jia Yu—to recommend Lei Xingxing, the mayor of Zhoujiakou.

Tang Bing dealt with it without showing any emotion, but the fact that two standing committee members were mobilized still caught her attention—it seems someone is pushing Lei Xingxing's political advancement.

After the May Day holiday ended, the Statistics Bureau and the Commerce Bureau immediately sent the reports to Lu Fan's office.

During the May Day holiday, our city received a total of 487.95 million tourist visits, up 58.98% year-on-year, and achieved tourism revenue of 23 billion yuan, up 125.4% year-on-year.

Nanyuan City received 730 million tourist visits, up 90% year-on-year, and achieved tourism revenue of 40 billion yuan, up 192% year-on-year; without a doubt, the growth rates of both indicators rank first in the province.

The city hosted concerts, the World Rose Expo, the Jade Exhibition at the Prefectural Government Office Museum, a cultural relics exchange forum, a food culture festival, an intangible cultural heritage creative painting exhibition, a traditional opera art festival, a fishing festival, an open cycling race, and similar events, attracting visitors from all over and winning widespread popularity among tourists.

Various localities launched numerous free and discounted cultural‑tourism benefit activities, with overlapping benefits letting residents enjoy greater savings. All 26 scenic spots in the city offered preferential treatment to tour groups aiming to attract visitors to Wan, and the 500 million night‑market consumption coupons and other holiday‑economy promotions brought benefits to consumers while also benefiting the scenic spots, attractions, and businesses.

During holidays, tourism quality supervision departments at all levels conducted market oversight and inspections, urging travel agencies, star‑rated hotels, scenic spots, etc., to standardize market order and provide tourists with a safe and harmonious travel environment; the tourism market maintained good order, service quality won broad praise, Nanyuan steadied this influx of visitors, accumulating strength for the year's tourism development.

May 4, Lu Fan personally went to the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine to report on Nanyuan's free medical care pilot program, receiving a personal audience and strong endorsement from Director Jia Luhao, especially since Nanyuan had first launched the pilot in all municipal TCM hospitals, earning Director Jia's affirmation and support.

May 5, Lu Fan visited the Health Commission and the Medical Insurance Bureau; Nanyuan's medical reform likewise attracted the leaders' attention, who pledged strong support for the city's reform work. Of course, behind the scenes there had been considerable coordination—even Li Lao lent a hand, and Weiwei also contributed significantly.

At the same time, Vice Mayor Ma Caihong led the Medical Insurance Bureau, the Health Commission, and the provincial department in liaison, graciously letting others take the credit, and naturally earned the provincial department's praise and strong support.

May 7, the Nanyuan City Medical Reform Preparatory Conference was convened; relevant departments and the secretaries and presidents of all municipal TCM hospitals attended, and the city's medical reform preparations proceeded in full swing, with each TCM hospital, following the Health Commission's requirements, working quickly to improve quality and efficiency.

Subsequently, a series of major announcements from the medical system sparked heated discussion across the city.

May 10, the project for a Grade‑A tertiary hospital in Wolong District received formal approval from the provincial government; covering about 200 mu, it will create an urban‑rural integrated demonstration zone People's Hospital, with a total investment of 28 billion yuan.

May 11, work has begun on the ten county‑level hospital projects funded by central‑budget investment.

To comprehensively upgrade Nanyuan's grassroots medical service capacity, the Municipal Party Committee and City Government had already been planning this work at the start of the year. The ten county‑level hospital projects were included in the 2024 central‑budget investment plan for the health sector, with a total investment of 5.5 billion yuan, aiming to secure 3.5 billion yuan of central and provincial funds.

May 15, the relocation and reconstruction project for the city central hospital, with a total investment of 25.78 billion yuan, held a ground‑breaking ceremony and began excavation and support‑dewatering work for the foundation pit;

May 18, the infectious disease hospital construction project, with a total investment of 15.4 billion yuan, has completed the approval of its project proposal;

May 20, the land‑pre‑approval procedures for the new campus of the municipal TCM hospital have been cleared, and construction is imminent. The hospital is designed as a Grade‑A tertiary TCM institution, with total investment kept within 10 billion yuan;

May 22, the medical emergency supplies reserve center and the emergency rescue center project were jointly planned; the feasibility report, site‑selection opinions, land pre‑approval, and other preliminary procedures have been completed, and the feasibility report for the medical emergency supplies reserve center has been approved and the application for central‑budget investment submitted.

……

In just a month, the construction of Nanyuan's medical system blazed like a raging fire, advancing with unstoppable momentum. Hundreds of billions of yuan in funds poured in like a tide, injecting strong momentum and vitality into the development of Nanyuan's medical cause.

The municipal government and the Health Commission were overwhelmed, working day and night like they were in battle—processing piles of materials, documents, and approval procedures, or constantly shuttling between project sites to coordinate relations; even finding time to catch a breath seemed a luxury. Yet they held no grudges, fully aware they were taking part in an extraordinary undertaking.

For the broad masses of cadres and the public, this is undoubtedly uplifting good news. On streets and alleys, in fields and villages, people are buzzing about Nanyuan's "big moves," their faces lit with joy and excitement. The entire populace eagerly awaits, hoping that Secretary Lu will bring a transformative change to Nanyuan's medical care.

One can imagine that, in the near future, as the medical system improves and the reform is implemented, the healthcare of this ten‑million‑person city will undergo a complete transformation. And behind all of this lies the indispensable foresight, wise decisions, and firm resolve of Secretary Lu Fan.

May 30 marked an extraordinarily unprecedented day in the history of Nanyuan's medical care; countless people clung to their phones or sat before their televisions, waiting for the city‑wide medical reform pilot conference to begin.

At ten o'clock in the morning, in the municipal government auditorium, accompanied by Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan, Tang Bing Secretary, Director Jia Luhao of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Deputy Provincial Governor Lei Juan, the heads of the Health Commission's System Reform Division, the Planning and Finance Division, and the Regulations Division, among other leaders, walked onto the stage as thunderous applause filled the hall, and the Nanyuan City Medical Reform and Free Medical Care Pilot Conference opened with great ceremony.

Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan chaired the meeting, solemnly introduced the attending leaders at all levels, and expressed his sincere gratitude for their support of Nanyuan.

At the meeting, Mayor Su Xiang Hai read out the "Nanyuan City Medical Reform Plan," formally announcing to all citizens that, effective immediately, free medical care would be provided to minors and residents aged sixty and above; the pilot will be carried out across the city's TCM institutions, and after summarizing experience it will be swiftly rolled out to all hospitals citywide.

Municipal Party Secretary Lu Fan spoke, saying: "The latent risk of falling back into poverty due to illness still exists, medical expenses remain high, and the problems of over‑examination, over‑treatment, and over‑medication are still serious, while doctor‑patient conflicts have not been fundamentally resolved. With the full‑hearted support of the Provincial Party Committee, the provincial government, the Health Commission, the Medical Insurance Bureau, and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanyuan's trial of free medical care for minors and the elderly is intended to be the 'top‑notch strategy' for solving these issues! Using the model of 'basic medical insurance pays first, with fiscal backing as a safety net,' the interest relationship between doctors and patients will return to a purely medical one."

Carrying out free medical care pilots in all levels of TCM hospitals and raising the reimbursement ratio to 100% will fully unleash the advantages of TCM—being simple, convenient, effective, and inexpensive—guiding patients to prefer TCM and low‑cost TCM techniques, which can both lower overall medical costs and better drive TCM hospitals back to serve the populace, showcasing TCM's strengths and characteristics; this is also Nanyuan's greatest advantage.

"Building and perfecting the free medical care system takes a process and requires everyone's patience; please give us time, the people of Nanyuan!"

Several division heads respectively gave speeches supporting Nanyuan's pilot work; Tang Bing Secretary congratulated the Nanyuan pilot and put forward several specific requirements, hoping that Nanyuan will summarize its experience to serve as a model for the province's medical reform.

After the meeting concluded, the city‑wide medical reform was officially launched, and every TCM hospital was flooded with patients.

At noon, Nanyuan City held a banquet to welcome the various leaders with great ceremony. The smooth implementation of this medical reform is indeed thanks to the strong support of the Provincial Party Committee, the provincial government, and the central ministries, which allocated over 10 billion yuan of special funds to Nanyuan—having money gives the work confidence.