The residents are being exposed to basic Western medical thought. They had patches on their rubber gloves. Though it was never exactly patient-friendly, it was available to all. But with China's economic reforms came increasing pressure on hospitals to make money. People who benefited from the reforms were able to afford the growing cost of health care, while others unable to share in China's embrace of capitalism are finding health care increasingly out of reach.
Many people delay treatment as long as possible.
The number of people seeking medical services has dropped by 18.8 percent compared with five years ago. The hospital knows that shorter stays are better for the patients in the long run, yet the patients insist on staying. Pavlina and his team performed four coronary bypasses in their first two days and kept up the pace, doing two or three surgeries every day. Ye exemplifies China's leap from a feudal, agricultural society into one striving to become modern and advanced. The fifth of seven children born to peasants, he was the first person from his village to go to college.