Chapter 32: Business Expansion!
“Zhang Tiesheng, it’s your support shift today, right?” Zhang Tiesheng was having dinner outside when he received a call from Director Lin Qianlong after leaving the private room.
The midday sun was fierce, and his dilated pupils struggled to absorb the light, causing Zhang Tiesheng a wave of dizziness: “Ah, yes, Director Lin. I’m near the hospital.”
Lin Qianlong’s tone was serious: “Zhang Tiesheng, Xiao Lu has been in our Emergency Department for nearly a month, and you’ve seen his hard work, drive, and ability.”
“We have an appendicitis case, and if you’re too lazy to come over, why not let Professor Chen have Professor Chen Song take Xiao Lu up to the operating room?”
“Xiao Lu has independently performed over a dozen tendon suturing surgeries this month, bringing a lot of performance to our department. Currently, the patient feedback on Xiao Lu is also quite good.”
Zhang Tiesheng pushed his glasses up, pondered for a few seconds, and sighed: “Alright, Director Lin, I understand.”
“If Xiao Lu can routinely perform over a dozen tendon suturing surgeries, there should be no problem with surgeries like appendectomy.”
In a county hospital, ultimately, you rely on your skills to make a living.
Moreover, this kind of skill-based living not only allows you to eat more but also to lead your ‘team’ to eat more.
Due to more convenient transportation, a large number of patients have the opportunity to seek medical treatment elsewhere. In the current environment where referrals are convenient, most county hospital departments lack sufficient patient volume.
The consequence of the average level in county hospitals not improving is a decreasing patient volume.
“Good, it’s great that you understand this, Tiesheng!”
“The attribution of tendon suturing cases can be said to be something Xiao Lu single-handedly took from Orthopedics; he has that ability.”
“But you also know that jealousy is a disease. For so long, Orthopedics didn’t think about performing tendon suturing. Now that they see Xiao Lu doing it smoothly, Director Peng of Orthopedics has remembered to invite Director Xiang from Zhou People’s Hospital down.”
“Starting next month, the ownership of this will be uncertain.”
“Xiao Lu has good learning efficiency. With his qualifications, having him interact more with Professor Chen on surgeries will definitely benefit our department more than it harms,” Lin Qianlong explained.
Zhang Tiesheng understood Lin Qianlong’s meaning but didn’t reply. He just paced back and forth at the entrance of the restaurant, his face contorted, deeply troubled.
The silence lasted for nearly twenty seconds before Lin Qianlong said, “Tiesheng, I know your concerns, but we are doctors after all.”
“Xiao Lu has good qualifications and learns quickly; he can learn more techniques from Professor Chen Song to a greater extent.”
“Ultimately, we are all working. Even if we don’t mention the broader environment of serving patients more, we also have to consider our own income level, right?”
“There are still over two months left. If Xiao Lu can truly learn surgeries from Professor Chen that even specialized departments can’t perform.”
“The long-term income accumulated over the years will definitely not be less than if you were promoted to director, right?”
“The key is that there’s no arguing.”
The current surgical scope of the Emergency Department was all fought for by Director Lin Qianlong and the directors of surgical specialties. For example, debridement and suturing, and appendicitis.
The only surgery currently undisputed is the tendon suturing that Lu Cheng is performing.
The director of Orthopedics also wants to do it, but can’t. If you insist on complaining, you’re just being a clown, even if they have opinions and ideas!
They can only find ways to learn and to do it.
This is the ‘rules’ of a county hospital!
Ability is fundamental.
Zhang Tiesheng let out a soft sigh: “I understand, Director Lin!”
“Encountering someone like this, what can we do?”
“Lu Cheng is indeed not an ordinary person. Giving him more opportunities can allow us to live better and also extend the learning period for surgeries.”
“I can distinguish between the pros and cons.”
“What about Zeng Huanqi, though?”
“I can’t speak for him,” Zhang Tiesheng conceded unilaterally.
Working in a county hospital, people generally don’t consider ‘social status’ or comprehensive influence within their specialty; this is unrealistic.
A director in a county hospital is just a supporting role when attending meetings in the prefecture. The main thing is having great power, which can increase one’s ‘income’ more, as you have more opportunities to learn surgeries and acquire more resources…
Ultimately, it is ‘income’ that determines people’s thinking.
Providing more medical services to patients, offering medical services of a higher quality than other specialists can provide to patients they cannot treat, and thus increasing one’s income is proper and not at all embarrassing.
“I just made a call too. Zeng Huanqi doesn’t have any objections. Actually, Lu Cheng is a relatively pure and easy-to-get-along-with person,” Lin Qianlong hinted to Zhang Tiesheng.
If Lu Cheng were to be promoted to Director of the Surgery Group in the future, he would certainly be easier to get along with than Zeng Huanqi.
“Director Lin, future matters are still distant.”
“If we are to really discuss it, I actually hope that Lu Cheng can learn more skills,” Zhang Tiesheng said with a rather sincere tone.
In fact, he was also helpless. He also wished to gain Professor Chen Song’s favor, but unfortunately, Lin Qianlong had already set up the stage, and he himself was not competent enough.
The reason why Professor Chen Song favored Lu Cheng has now become concrete.
In less than a month, he has performed over a dozen tendon suturing surgeries from scratch, something Orthopedics couldn’t do.
If tendon suturing were really that easy to learn, Director Peng Haibo of Orthopedics would have been routinely performing it long ago.
“Then I’ll call Lu Cheng directly.”
“If there’s a real opportunity, our Emergency Surgery department will instead become a strong department in the Surgery section. Even if Lu Cheng leaves, his influence will remain,” Lin Qianlong said.
Zhang Tiesheng’s throat constricted: “Ga.”
“Lu Cheng will leave? Director Lin? That’s not a good joke to make, is it?”
Lin Qianlong said, “Professor Chen wishes he could hold Lu Cheng in his hand every day. What is he calculating?”
“Academic qualifications are indeed Lu Cheng’s limitation, but qualifications only change a person’s potential, not their fundamental talent.”
“Academic qualifications are one reflection of learning ability, but not an absolute representation. A person’s learning ability will not fundamentally change because of an increase in academic qualifications.”
“We don’t need to doubt Professor Chen’s ability to assess people.”
“Even if he doesn’t leave now, I believe Professor Chen will find a way to let him venture out. What we need to do is to let him learn more while Lu Cheng is still here.”
“And then, we can extend our window for learning surgeries.”
“Ultimately, he won’t block your path.”
“You understand the difference between teaching someone to fish and giving them a fish, don’t you?” Lin Qianlong said.
Lin Qianlong added, “Furthermore, Lu Cheng has been obsessively researching details in the department recently, making it more theoretical and academic than a teaching hospital. Why this is the case, neither you nor I know, but there must be a motive.”
Zhang Tiesheng nodded: “Hmm… that’s true. If Lu Cheng just wanted to stay in the county hospital long-term… there would be no need to delve into such details.”
“There’s a reason for everything?”
“Director Lin, then can you bear to let Lu Cheng go?”
Lin Qianlong chuckled lightly: “Tiesheng, work is work. We come together to do things due to circumstances.”
“Everyone has their own karma. It’s best not to do things that ruin someone’s future.”
“Lu Cheng is a smart person. He will make the right decision about when to leave, and I am very sure of that.”
Lin Qianlong had thoroughly analyzed it. Zhang Tiesheng’s temporary concession was beneficial and harmless. He was naturally not bothered by the matter of Lu Cheng’s ‘status’ being threatened after he learned surgeries.
‘Status’ is ‘status’, income is income. With increased income, the ‘status of division chief’ doesn’t matter as much.
