She graduated from Huaxi Dental, and then went to work at a top-tier hospital. She has over twenty years of expertise in the field of hospital management currently. When the interview was taking place, it was the final stages of the virus.

A Sudden Challenge

After the outbreak of the virus, there were many patients visiting. If you cannot isolate them from each other, the virus is very likely to spread under such a compact space. Therefore, one of the priorities in the hospital in such a circumstance is to establish pre-checks. You have to separate the patients who are susceptible to COVID from the ones who are not in front of the gate of the hospital, or even along the streets. That is a hard problem for our work, but also one of our most paramount concerns. If you are unable to make the distinctions, the risk of spreading the virus would increase. Moreover, medical resources cannot be efficiently and effectively distributed when the space is crowded.

The “Layers” of Protection

The struggle is the number of people we have. To separate these people into different lanes at the entrance is more than difficult. What amazed me about our hospital is that we did three layers of COVID check. The first layer checks the temperature of the patients, and people who have a fever would go in a special lane. Not only the temperature matters, the places people have visited and their acquaintances are both major concerns. So in the second layer, we ask them questions about these things. Again, susceptible patients get picked out. Finally, the third layer would have doctors actually checking the patients for their temperature and asking them more detailed questions. The process continues.

Regular Medication?

If regular treatments were given to these patients, safety is relatively guaranteed. But many people were still confused, claiming that they show no symptoms and should not be isolated. There are multiple ways to solve this problem. The first one being public advertisement. The media advertisements are actually very important, and people realized that they are crucial. To help people understand that the necessity of these checks through different means is essentially protecting their health. Secondly, on a legal perspective, if you give any false information in order to get into the “normal” lane, it would be a violation of the law. Employee reinforcement is the third problem. For our hospital, we need at least 5 times the number of staff members than we previously had. A large number of these staff are doing the job of explaining and separating the crowd. Security guards are also much needed in the cases of intrusion.

Consultation Online

Most people are actually unsure about the symptoms of the virus and whether or not they are infected. During Chinese New Year, hospitals nationwide were closed. But the day before the celebration, our hospital started our online consultation program. In the first hour, we had more than 300 people engaging. People are impatient because they are no other mediums to get more information. I think the virtual consultation platform is great for the public, because many healthcare professionals and specialists were included in the program. But some patients would have to actually go to the hospitals to get the medication they need. The purpose of the platform is to tell people whether or not it is necessary for them to go to the hospital, or if they should stay at home instead.

The Inner Panic

We found out that 90% of the people consulting online through our free platform are doing it out of anxiety. We had patients asking similar questions over and over again. The fear derives from our lack of knowledge about the virus. When we are overly concerned, mental illnesses and anxiety arise. So going to the hospital can be good for not only a COVID check-up, but also a mental one. People are afraid of things that are foreign. Even if it is the worst thing, if we are able to have a full grasp of it, our fear would still be largely reduced.

Be Online If Possible

As of now, the consultation online is more of a platform for doctors to answer questions. A lot of physical check-ups like Ultrasound or blood tests are limited. A medical diagnosis require many auxiliary checks for it to be definitive. Online platforms can help patients who have already visited the hospital or are diagnosed previously. For those who need actual physical checks to get diagnosed, they are suggested to come in person.

Continuing the Online Platform

In the future, online medical consultations are able to help 40-50% of our industry. Many patients, as mentioned before, would re-visit the hospital if they have a long-term illness. These patients usually only need simple adjustment to their prescriptions, so they don’t need to physically go to the hospital every time. Digital consulting is a trend of the medical industry, but in-person check-ups cannot be replaced completely.

Priorities

We made many adjustments for people who need physical medications. Many surgeries are postponed due to the virus. For these patients, it would be safer for them to select another time for their surgeries when the virus and environmental conditions are more controlled.

Pokemon at the Hospital

I was the most surprised by how people were dressed so differently in the hospital. Some wearing raincoats, some with a helmet on, some with cartoon costumes… They wore all kinds of outfits for protection. People didn’t know exactly what we do to control the virus. We kept our areas sanitized always. Sometimes people would wear the weirdest outfits to the hospital for protection.

Covid conditions are gradually getting better nationally. She did not choose to rest after these crazy times, but she went back to the busy hospital. However, she is still working every day with her protection suit on. Living and working, almost back to the way she used to be. As a doctor, their emotions are always felt by nobody else but themselves.