The Hospital Story [Joy]

Courtesy of Joy (Vickie's sister, also known forever more as "3 Yuan Water Lady"), here is her story of a "thru the looking glass" trip in China's health care system, all started thanks to Changsha's particularly bad air, which hit our friend and fellow traveler Val pretty hard.

(NB: Vickie and Jim were able to find a China gov't website listing daily air quality for Chinese cities that confirmed that Changsha's air quality was markedly worse than the air in Beijing and other cities we visited; sadly, it was far from the worst. We were also able to find cheap tickets on direct flights from Changsha to Zhangjiajie that would allow Val to avoid a 4 hr bus ride, should she wish to just get out of the air as quickly as possible. The beauty of the internet!)

One of our party was having serious breathing trouble, so after some consideration she decided to go to the local hospital in Changsha for, hopefully, a nebulizer treatment and an inhaler. As this was Sunday evening, her option was the emergency room. Nuse [our tour guide] drove us there, Jane [our local guide for Changsha and Zhangjiajie] met us there. First stop was the Registration/Cashier line, and Kathy and Jane waited in line, paid about 5 yuan (less than a dollar) and got a little plastic credit card for Val. We all followed Jane down the hallway to a small room with two small wooden desks with computers, with a physician at each. The female doctor was available, Val sat down, Nuse and Jane translated, and the doctor took a history, checked lungs and heart, and listened to Val’s explanation of her symptoms, her previous experience with the same symptoms about 6 months ago, and the treatment she received for it from her home clinic.

The doctor said lungs and heart sounded fine, and she wanted a blood test to rule out infection. After careful consideration, Kathy & Jane went back to the Registration window to pay, then we all trooped down the hall to a little “window” in the wall. It was framed in stainless steel, with a shelf at about waist height and a chair in front, and the technician sat within. After waiting our turn, Val sat down, put her hand on the shelf, and watched as the technician spread hand sanitizer on his gloves (note: did not change his gloves).

He pricked her finger, extracted her blood through a pipette and into a test-tube, and handed her a little square of folded brown paper towel to press on the puncture. We moved off to the chairs set against the wall of the hallway to wait. I found a band-aid and hand sanitizer, Val applied both and hoped for the best.

This is about the time we decided it would be better not to look at the floor. Nuse had previously explained that the appearance of the hospital would be not up to our standards, but that HE trusted the medical care there. As we trusted him, we had made the leap of faith. Now, the professional intake from the doctor was balanced with the dubiousness of the sanitary facilities. The floor was filthy. The small trashcans along the hallway seemed to be a place to aim. Litter and (some) dead bugs were everywhere (no evidence of medical waste, however); it was a motley collection of papers, cigarette butts, food and drink containers.

We carried on.

The results of the blood test came back and we returned to the intake room. (Thank goodness for Nuse and Jane who knew the system!) The doctor said the blood test was ok, and she asked about the medicine used in the prior treatment. Kathy used her cell phone – called information in the States and got connected to their medical clinic. The information was quickly obtained and the doctor found the reference for the medicine on her computer. She then wanted an EKG, as heart symptoms mimic the breathing symptoms Val was experiencing, and the medicine for the nebulizer could make a heart condition worse.

Our little group took the elevator (“Don’t look down!”) up to the 5th floor, went down the hallway to the EKG room. Again, very quickly, Valerie was done with that, and we took her heart printout back to the intake room.

Finally the doctor had enough information to prescribe the treatment Val was looking for, but alas, the personnel were not available and the treatment would have to be completed the next morning. Val accepted this disappointment, and we made plans to come back in the morning. Before we left the hospital, Kathy and Jane paid for the treatment, the medicine and the inhaler, Nuse picked up the medicine from the hospital pharmacy, and Val and I stood outside the door watching a little boy pee in the entrance way of the hospital (assisted by his dear ol ma).

Total time: about 1 ½ hours.
Total cost: less than $30
Outcome: no treatment that evening, but one promised for early the next morning.

Val slept ok that evening, and she, Kathy and Nuse returned for another adventure the next day.

[Which happened as scheduled, and Val soldiered on, bravely!, to Zhuzhuo. No way was she going to miss that! (paraphrasing her). Happily she got to feeling better, and the day afterward, she was able to do a rather strenuous walk in Zzj that involved climbing 168 steps.