Chapter 665

As he spoke, Secretary Lu, who had been steady, suddenly became stern and raised his voice: "Provincial Health Commission, you control the allocation of medical resources across the province, the evaluation of professional titles, and so on—you are truly 'high position, great power,' you know! If you uphold the people first, life first, the province's health cause will develop high-quality, and the masses will enjoy health and welfare; otherwise, if you become corrupt and abuse power for personal gain, the ordinary people will suffer and endure hardship!"

Pausing, Lu Fan continued: "When people mention Grassland Province, they instinctively think of prairie folk songs, blue skies and white clouds, simple herders, and fragrant milk tea. In fact, the grassland is not living in a sterile vacuum; corruption problems in the medical system occur here as well, and perhaps even more so!"

Since the medical system reform, the heads of the Health Bureau and directors of public hospitals have become lucrative posts, but just how lucrative they are is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Over the past two years, as the nationwide anti-corruption campaign in healthcare unfolded, the corruption cases of one fallen hospital director after another have truly shocked observers from all walks of life—though everyone knows the hospital director position is 'lucrative and profitable,' no one could have imagined it could reach this scale!

From the beginning of this year to now, the country has already seen 210 hospital directors fall from power, a number exceeding twice last year's total. The amounts involved range from tens of millions to over a hundred million yuan, with even the smaller cases amounting to several million yuan. Although the administrative ranks of bureau chiefs and hospital directors may not be high, they have shown the world what is meant by 'minor officials, major corruption'!

Comrades, medical corruption differs from corruption in other fields. Though each item in medical activities appears to be openly priced and lawful, the corrupt amounts have long been shifted onto tens of thousands of patients through drug price hikes, equipment price hikes, and surgery price hikes. They extort life-saving money from patients and squeeze blood-and-sweat money from patients' families, all while sucking the marrow from bones and still expecting patients and their families to feel 'deep gratitude'.

A folk song goes: "Outlaws want money, not lives; white-clad angels want both money and lives." Because many patients' families exhaust their fortunes and their lives in the hospital, ending up with neither person nor wealth.

Everyone, Grassland Province's economy belongs to an underdeveloped region, and the people's income level is not high. For such a population, the same medical corruption could cause even more serious harm; many ordinary and middle-class families might fall into difficulty after a serious illness. Therefore, the people of Grassland Province expect and hope for anti-corruption in healthcare even more eagerly.

Root out the moths and rats wearing white coats, and broad benefits will come to vast numbers of patients. Eliminate this batch of medical moths, and drug prices will lose one layer of corrupt markup, so patients' medical expenses will naturally drop significantly.

Besides the corrupt elements, almost every Grassland resident hopes that anti-corruption will bring about the good result of affordable medical care, affordable medicines, and affordable hospitalization.

Today, right here at your Provincial Health Commission, the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Government, and the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee are about to fire the first shot in the fight against medical corruption! Launching a special rectification action in the medical field, they will announce to society the reporting hotline and platform for work style issues in the province's health sector.

The scope of this concentrated rectification includes: administrative units at all levels with licensing, approval, and review authority in the medical and pharmaceutical sector; public medical and health institutions and socially run non-profit medical and health institutions; social organizations, pharmaceutical enterprises, and associated distributors and pharmaceutical representatives that accept guidance and supervision from the medical and pharmaceutical administrative departments.

In short, all institutions and all links related to medicine have been included in the rectification scope; a comprehensive, full-process anti-corruption struggle in the medical field has today officially opened its curtains.

Now, please have the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee, Du Wenlong, announce the relevant decision; please have the staff and public security officers enter the venue and enforce discipline!

As his words fell, the vast hall sank into a deathly silence, not even a sparrow's chirp, as if time had frozen.

Countless eyes showed deep fear, lest they become the "souls under the blade" of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee.

Du Wenlong rose to his feet, his gaze sharp as a hawk's, sweeping over the hall, then picked up the microphone and solemnly said: "Please have the staff enter the venue in an orderly manner and prepare for action!"

At this moment, everyone's eyes focused on the stern, unsmiling Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee! His words sent a chill through many hearts, and they involuntarily lowered their heads.

"Now I announce the decision of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee: with approval from the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee will file a case for investigation into the serious violations of discipline and law by Deputy Director Ma Xiangnan of the Provincial Health Commission, and take him away!" Although the words are brief, the weight they carry is as heavy as a thousand jin.

At the command, two disciplined and vigorous discipline inspection cadres immediately strode to the front row, walked steadily and firmly to Ma Xiangnan's seat, without the slightest hesitation, one on the left and one on the right, and cleanly lifted him from his seat.

Ma Xiangnan obviously had not yet fully reacted; his face was filled with shock and panic. He struggled uselessly twice, trying to break free from the discipline inspection cadres' control, but it was all in vain.

Finally, in full view of everyone, Ma Xiangnan, like a defeated rooster, was taken out of the venue with his head hung low and spirit broken.

The arrest in the venue was such a rare sight that the leading cadres of the Provincial Health Commission were struck dumb with fear, their faces full of disbelief, secretly wondering what impact this turmoil would bring.

Even the Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau Director Cheng Jingbo and the Provincial Market Supervision Bureau Director Li Zhenquan, who had come for the investigation, felt a chill rise from their spines. They looked at each other, seeing the same fear and unease in each other's eyes.

They even involuntarily imagined what it would be like if they themselves were the ones being taken away today; once this thought arose, it grew like wild grass, uncontrollable, doubling their fear.

Du Wenlong's voice, filled with fear, boomed like a thunderclap: "File a case for investigation into the serious violations of discipline and law by Deputy Director Zhou Weiming of the Provincial Health Commission, and take him away!"

The shocking scene replayed itself: Zhou Weiming, seated in the front row, turned as pale as paper, and by the time he was taken away he had already fainted, nearly scared to death.

"The directors of the Personnel Department, the Institutional Reform Department, the Medical Administration Department, and the Planning Department are suspected of serious violations of discipline and law; they will accept disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee and Supervision Commission, and all of them will be taken away!" Du Wenlong's voice rang like a great bell, resounding once again.

More than a dozen stern-faced discipline inspection cadres and public security officers rushed in like a sudden storm, their steps firm and powerful, heading straight for their respective targets. With more people, greater commotion, the scene was even more shocking.

After Du Wenlong sat down, indicating that today's arrest operation had finally come to an end, everyone present involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief, and the hanging heart finally settled a little. But those shocking scenes just witnessed will likely be etched deeply in everyone's memory, becoming unforgettable fragments for a lifetime.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Lu Fan picked up the microphone and spoke in a deep voice: "Look at their disgraceful state; they usually live in comfort, but they have long lost their faith, forgotten their original aspirations, and will surrender their weapons within a few days!"

Why were they taken away in the venue? It is to let everyone know that to remain unseen, one must refrain from wrongdoing! It is also to give everyone a lesson in integrity, demonstrating the Provincial Party Committee's determination to crack down on medical corruption.

Comrades, the pharmaceutical field is the guardian of people's lives and health, and the trust placed in us by the people. Yet some among you have seriously harmed the people's vital interests and also damaged the reputation and image of the pharmaceutical industry; we must attach great importance to this and resolutely rectify it.

Medical corruption is wide-ranging, highly impactful, and strongly concealed. Internal power-money transactions, benefit transfers in drug procurement, false prescriptions in diagnosis and treatment, irregularities in drug sales, and the 'relationship network' within the pharmaceutical industry—these involve both profiteering and illegal acts, and we have reached a critical moment that demands immediate resolution.

If not thoroughly rectified, it will lead to loss of trust in the medical system, waste of resources, intensification of social conflicts, and a series of problems that will bring even more serious consequences to the pharmaceutical industry.

I state my position here: the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee will eliminate all interference and obstruction, punish corruption according to law, investigate and handle each case as it arises, form a societal force to supervise anti-corruption efforts, and firmly eradicate the breeding of corruption in the medical field.

At the same time, I hope everyone will voluntarily disclose problems and seek lenient treatment. Within one month, leading cadres with issues should proactively go to the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee to truthfully explain their own problems and surrender any illicit gains; the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee will uphold the principle of 'learn from past mistakes to avoid future ones, cure the disease to save the patient' and the requirement of 'three distinctions', fully apply the 'four forms' of supervision and discipline, educate and reform the majority, severely punish the few, thereby sending signals of leniency balanced with severity and differentiated treatment, and fostering a clean and upright political ecosystem.

Comrades, punishment is not the goal; correction is fundamental! For those cadres who never recognize their errors, never reform, and remain obstinate, only by raising the sword of discipline and law can we truly eradicate deep-rooted maladies, correct evil thoughts, and achieve the ultimate purpose of purifying conduct and enforcing discipline.

Having finished speaking, Lu Fan deliberately looked left and right, his gaze falling on Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau Director Cheng Jingbo and Provincial Market Supervision Bureau Director Li Zhenquan. Today's scene was also specially prepared for them, aiming to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, urging them to pull back from the brink, turn back to shore, and offset their demerits with merit.

Because, according to the current situation grasped by the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee, the two of them are still at a stage where they can be saved. Moreover, the purpose of anti-corruption is also to promote work; if we arrest everyone, who will do the job? Will the replacements be cleaner? Will they be more capable?

The word "clean" is simple and plain, yet it carries weight and rich meaning; how many can honestly say with a clear conscience, "I am clean!"