Linyi Chinese Medicine Hospital
Who: The DH
What: Three days of IV antibiotic drips
When: Third and final drip
Where: Linyi Chinese Medicine Hospital
Why: A pesky little respiratory infection
How Much: 180RMB for the antibiotics (2) and 250ml bag of 0.9%NS (1); 32RMB for the nursing treatment/ER visit = 212RMB or ~ $31
Chinese hospitals can be a little chaotic, a little disorganized and, compared to what we are used to in the West, a whole lot basic. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t get quality treatment for what ails you. At Chinese Medicine hospitals, you will receive diagnosis and treatment based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine, however they also utilize Western medicine tools in complement. Thus the reason that the DH received antibiotics at a Chinese Medicine facility.
“Emergencg” Center hallway
As I write this, we’re in the ER. (Or the Emerg for my Canadian friends!) At least I think it’s an ER. People have been coming in with health issues, but it might be something like an urgent care clinic. It’s hard to say. There is a sign that says it is an emergency room. More like an emergency hallway.
A gurney/stretcher waits for its patient
There are several other patients curled up in hospital beds, receiving IV drips of some kind. The most exciting thing that happened was a middle-aged man stumbled into the hallway half-carrying his wife. She seemed to be in serious pain. The doctors checked her vital signs, gave her an ECG and ordered some x-rays or maybe a CT. (There’s no privacy here. I observed it all. Brought back MANY memories.) The husband went to pay a deposit for use of the gurney. When he came back, he loaded his wife up and pushed her off to the radiology department. No orderlies here. (I had to do this once before when I accompanied a friend to the ER.)
Step 2 (after evaluation): The cashier – no queuing, just stand your ground and/or shove your money under the glass
Step 3: After the cashier, you take your receipt to the pharmacy to pick up your prescribed medication.
After the DH’s info was entered into the computer system, we headed off to the cashier to pay. Then, with receipt in hand, we went to the pharmacy to pick up the antibiotics that the nurses would be administering. We also had to buy a 250ml bag of 0.9% Normal Saline. Then, back in the ER, the doctors and nurses ambushed us, saying something about paying more money. The one doctor who spoke a little English popped up to the front. It seems they forgot to include the treatment fee, so back to the cashier we went.
The nurses review paperwork in their workstation
The doctors and nurses here were pretty excited to see us. The DH has already come for his IV drip the last two days without me, so they all wanted to know who I was. The head nurse interrogated me, asking me how old I am and why we don’t have children. Then she wanted to know how it is that I’m American and the DH Spanish. I didn’t have sufficient vocabulary for that one. As their questions got more and more in-depth, head nurse asked why we didn’t bring our fluent British friend with us. I guess she had a lot more questions.
A young 护士 (hu shi), or nurse, starts the IV
Eventually they got around to mixing up the IV antibiotics and the DH got his final dose. He’s laying in a bed now, flipping out over how freaky it is that his whole arm feels cool from the cooler-than-room temperature IV. Amateur!
The DH messing with the IV drip rate
Despite the basic facilities, this has all gone down exactly how I would have seen it in the US or Canada, from the IV poke to IV administration. Except for the toilet stench wafting through the halls. That’s not what I’d expect at all. But it is what it is.
It’s a little smelly at this end of the hallway – the toilets are around the corner
For the record, I am a fan of the idea of combining Traditional Chinese Medicine with Western Medicine. I appreciate the holistic viewpoint of TCM and the emphasis on treating the whole person, not just a specific symptom. I do not, however, enjoy hospitals. I only want to be in one if I am working. I’ll put off seeing a doctor or nurse practitioner as long as possible and would visit an ER only if I were pretty much dying. This has worked out for me in the past, however, I’m not getting any younger and I understand all too well the importance of preventative health care, which is why I let the DH talk me into a health check-up this past February. I had one curious test result which turned out to be nothing, and perhaps most surprising, normal cholesterol levels. Not wanting to spend one more minute in a Chinese or Western hospital, I’m recommitting myself to a healthy lifestyle.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
NOT fun! Get well soon and get out of there.
.-= Donna´s last blog ..Easter in Pictures =-.
Thanks, he’s better now. It’s amazing that we managed to avoid a Chinese ER for the last 4 1/2 years here. I hope that’s our last visit!
Glad everything is fine…let’s make a deal to keep out of ERs no matter where they are located. Deal?
I was thinking about that ER photo of my brother when I posted this – haha! I fully plan to stay out of ERs from now on. Really, this should have been done in a clinic or doc’s office, but everything is done in ERs here.
I hope he is well now!
Your story reminds me of the hospital in Ghana where we took our maid’s little girl who had cerebral malaria. My husband went in waving his wallet, paying as fast as he could at the various counters to get her the various treatments. They worked fast, and fortunately she recovered.
.-= Miss Footloose´s last blog ..EXPAT FUN AND GAMES =-.
Whoa! I’m glad she recovered! Fortunately the DH is on the road to recovery and really was only mildly ill to start off with. Thank goodness!
Hi Global Gal, I just discovered your blog and like it. Congrats on getting through the illness! Although, since you say his symptoms were mild symptoms anyway, I can almost guarantee that there was zero need for any IV therapy at all, and they did it just for the money. That’s how hospitals make their money in China (I’m a family medicine doc at an expat clinic in Beijing). This is a gigantic problem for all of China as you’re exposed to potential harms of injection, not to mention allergic reactions and antibiotic resistance…
I’m a big fan of your blog! Thanks for commenting here. I guess I could say you’re preaching to the choir, although this post kind of shows otherwise. I worked as an RN for years in the US/Canada and I have railed against the whole IV culture here. There is a small clinic by my apartment that is full of people all day getting infusions for things like feeling tired and having fever. I advised my husband that he didn’t need the IV antibiotics, (and at first was skeptical he needed antibiotics at all), but because his WBC was 20 and he needed to get those results normal ASAP in order to qualify for a new job, he went ahead and took the IVs. I’ve been reading a lot lately about antibiotic resistance and it’s scary.
Thanks. Linyi — I don’t know where that is! Must be a tier 3 or 4 city? I presume no expat clinics; is there a Starbucks there? It’s a sad but fairly accurate way to see which Chinese cities have climbed into Tier 2/1 level…have you discovered the blog at raoulschinasalon.com? Very fun group…
.-= Richard Saint Cyr MD´s last blog ..Next Healthcare Forum: China’s Health Spending Challenges =-.
Linyi is a definite tier 3 city. It’s basically an enormous village of 3 million people! There are no expat clinics, no Starbucks. We have to make do with McDonald’s coffee. I have not discovered that site, but will check it out. Thanks!
Hi there,glad everybody is better ! I am just doing some general research into IV use in China. I was some what surprised to hear that my girlfriend,Lina who is Chinese and studying at the Monita beauty college in Dalian,picked up a flu /cold and after visiting the hospital ,was put straight onto an IV and immediately given antibiotics. I can understand that if an infection is present and is not shifting then antibiotics can be of benefit . To be given at the beginning though I am not sure. So is this standard prcedure for everybody? My real concern is that she has been visiting the hospital for seven days and has received IV everyday. She says she feels better but has a bad cough and still has a runny nose. ?? She is blood type ‘B’ and as I understand ‘B’ types have a very strong immune system .Could the antibiotics and drip be causing more harm than good ? I think these questions have already been answered but I would just like them clarified.
I thought I would share an experience I had at a hospital/dentist that treat foreigners. Actually my nightmare started before I went to China. Had a cracked tooth,so I went to get it sorted ,in England just before my last visit. He told me ,no problem but tooth next to it needs attention. Might as well get it done ,didnt want any problems whilst visiting my girlfriend. Doh !! Got to be anybody’s worst nightmare,extremely painful ‘fixed’ tooth,which could have been left for a later date. Anyway after the longest most painful flight in history I told my girlfriend and she immediately arranged an appointment. Ok,they critisized what had already been done to my teeth already,which I hasten to add is an accurate assesment ! So they re-filled my tooth with a plastic based filling,a very deep filling,in fact not much tooth was left. I had the usual x-ray. After several days and no improvement with the pain they said I needed the nerve taken out,hmm. Again after several more days and lots more treatment and another x-ray and several small x-rays in the treatment room they told me how much the crown would cost. ‘From 2500RMB to 5000RMB . ??????? How much? It would have been cheaper in the UK . They also wanted to X-ray again,at this point I said ‘no way.’ I have had too many already ! I even had to insist on wearing the lead jacket which they didnt offer me .Anyway by this time Lina had sussed that they were ripping me off,she is wonderfully good at saving money! They had changed doctors half way through,the first one was very nice and kind and reasonably priced. The second wasn’t either. Lina cancelled the crown fitting and we found an alternative dentist, I can only describe as a ‘peoples’ dentist. He was very critical of the hospital’s work( although they had solved the problem) and I needed three crowns not one,one would not last. He made and fitted three crowns, joined together for added strength, for 1200RMB !!! And he guaranteed them for 20 years! I am planning to have all my future work done with this guy,he was really good .
Anybody else had experiences with chinese dentists?