Hospitals in China are now expanding, but even the super-sized hospitals are unable to accommodate the huge population of those in need of health care.
Better health insurance coverage, a growing population of the aging and the middle class and a lack of confidence in rural health care have added to the number of patients public hospitals have to tend to. Because of this, hospitals are bringing in thousands of beds.
With the boom of the patient population, some of these hospital beds have been placed in overpopulated areas like the hospital hallways and elevator lobbies. And while it is jam-packed inside these hospitals, more people are waiting outside to be admitted.
China now has 16 erect public hospitals with over 3,000 beds, larger in number compared to the 2,478 beds at the NewYork-Presbyterian which is known to be the largest hospital in the United States, per Becker's Hospital Review.
Policymakers are worried that while the country has increasing debt because of hospital expansion, care given to patients may not be cost-effective.
Before midnight struck on July 15, a large pack of people who were either patients' relatives or those waiting to be admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University had accumulated outside the high towers of the hospital, camped out in tents and folding cots. Some relatives made it inside to see their admitted family members; however, they had to sleep while sharing stretchers with patients, along brightly lit stairwells.
"My dad paid for a bed but still couldn't get one," said university student Ma Wenxiao from the central city of Wuhan. Her father had to travel to Zhenzhou for chemotherapy and had to wait two days for a bed.
Most patients are choosing to be treated in major hospitals affiliated to big city universities. According to patients, they feel safer when treated for major illnesses or even simple aches in these bigger hospitals. Because of this, quantity of supplies and quality of service seem to not be able to keep up with the demand.
According to Beijing-based lawyer Li Huijuan, rapidly expanding hospitals have to hire less experienced medics. Medical staff may also experience more pressure due to the increasing number of patients.
At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, associate chief medical officer Neil Fishman also emphasized the risk of transmission of diseases in small areas filled with people.
While the public's faith in big hospitals is difficult to shake and even when the crowded hospital areas are a normal scene for most Chinese people, a lot of these patients making up 60 to 80 percent of the giant hospital population can actually be treated in smaller community medical centers, said associate professor Ma Jingdong of Huazhong University of Science & Technology in Wuhan.
