This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

After attending to all these matters and ensuring Wang Zhenzhen was settled, Du Heng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, he was immediately summoned to the office by Lu Guangying and others.

After some brief pleasantries, they got straight to their work reports.

Lu Guangying produced a thick stack of materials, slapped it on the table, and said, ”Dean, all departments have completed their preliminary integration according to your requirements.”

”However, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Pediatric Care Department were not canceled. According to the Health Commission’s requirements for our Specialized Hospital, these two departments cannot be eliminated. Therefore, they have been directly combined with the Physical Examination Center.”

”Additionally, following the principle of voluntary participation, we have transferred two doctors and two nurses to bolster the capabilities of the Physical Examination Center.”

Du Heng glanced at the thick stack of materials before Lu Guangying, a sense of dread washing over him. If I had to read all this, it would definitely be less interesting than my medical books, he thought.

”So, does that mean the Physical Examination Center is now divided into sections for premarital examinations, maternal healthcare, child healthcare, and general public physical examinations, is that right?”

”Yes, and a few other minor sections, but they aren’t significant.”

”Then who is in charge of the Physical Examination Center?” Du Heng asked a critical question.

Lu Guangying glanced at Du Heng. ”The candidate hasn’t been decided yet. That decision is up to you, Dean.”

Du Heng smiled faintly. ”But you must have a proposed candidate, right?”

Seeing Lu Guangying hesitate, Du Heng spoke again, ”I know what you’re thinking. Feel free to speak your mind.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Lu Guangying decided to be frank. ”There are two candidates: one is Director Zhou Kang, the former head of the Physical Examination Center, and the other is the former director of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.”

Du Heng’s eyebrows knitted slightly, then quickly smoothed out. ”Deputy Dean Lu, who do you think is more suitable?”

”I believe it would be best for Director Zhou Kang to continue as the head of the Physical Examination Center.”

”Why is that?”

”Before the merger, Director Zhou managed the Physical Examination Center diligently. It was always well-organized, and he never encountered any problems.”

As Lu Guangying spoke, she observed Du Heng. Noticing his expression soften, she continued, ”Moreover, he has received numerous commendations for his thorough examinations and excellent service.”

”Therefore, I believe it would be unfair to the man, who has worked so hard and never complained, to demote him to deputy simply because of a departmental adjustment.”

Du Heng nodded decisively. ”You’re absolutely right. Director Zhou is doing a fine job. Why should we go through the unnecessary trouble of replacing him?”

He couldn’t help but scoff. ”If we were considering someone else, even the Director of the Pediatric Care Department, I might have to think twice. But the Director of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology? Heh, forget it.”

”The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was perfectly fine, but it somehow ended up becoming a Postpartum Care Center. In the past month, it only admitted two patients, and one of them even filed a complaint! On what grounds could she possibly compete with Director Zhou for the director position?”

”There’s no need to discuss this further. Don’t even bring it up at the meeting.”

Lu Guangying looked at Du Heng in astonishment, her eyes wide with disbelief. Why has he changed so much? she wondered. He used to be so much more reserved in his words and actions. Just ten days away, and he’s become... so direct! Even if I wouldn’t say it out loud, isn’t this a bit too blunt? Too disrespectful?

However, seeing the determined look on Du Heng’s face, Lu Guangying said no more and simply nodded in agreement.

”Anything else?” Du Heng inquired.

Lu Guangying nodded. ”Yes, I have the personnel adjustment list and arrangements here, as well as the agreements signed by those being assigned to the Capital. These all require your signature for confirmation.”

Looking at the documents Lu Guangying pushed towards him, Du Heng sighed. It seems I couldn’t escape this after all, he lamented inwardly. With another long sigh, he took the documents. I really hate dealing with these administrative tasks.

”Alright, leave them with me. I’ll try to get through them this week and get back to you.”

”There’s no rush. Take your time,” Lu Guangying said softly, then stood up to leave. Du Heng stood up as well.

”Are you going out again, Dean?”

”Yes, I’m going to check on the patient who was just admitted.”

”You’d better not. Vice Dean Qiao is also waiting to discuss something with you.”

Du Heng, who had just risen, paused slightly but then had no choice but to sigh and sit back down.

Before his sigh had even faded, Vice Dean Qiao walked in carrying a stack of materials.

”Dean, I’m truly sorry to bother you as soon as you’ve returned,” Vice Dean Qiao said cheerfully, sitting down opposite Du Heng and deliberately pushing the documents in his hand towards him.

Du Heng rolled his eyes. ”If you have something to say, just say it. Why bother with the pleasantries? If you really felt embarrassed, you wouldn’t have come.”

Hearing Du Heng’s blunt words, the smile on Vice Dean Qiao’s face froze. What’s wrong with the Dean? he thought. He wasn’t like this before. Did something happen to him during his trip? Did he get triggered by something?

Du Heng didn’t give Vice Dean Qiao time for wild speculation and asked directly, ”Are those the contracts signed with the Provincial Women and Children’s Hospital?”

Vice Dean Qiao’s expression immediately turned serious. He pushed the file directly to Du Heng. ”Take a look, Dean. Everything you arranged before you left has been written into the contract.”

Du Heng took the contract and flipped through it briefly without carefully reading the contents. ”How many people went in total? Which departments are they in?”

”We solicited everyone’s opinions and wishes. Two people were sent to each of the Pediatrics Department, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Gynecology Department, Gynecological Oncology Department, and Obstetrics Department.”

Du Heng did a quick mental calculation, then frowned. ”That makes ten people. Do we even have that many to spare?”

Vice Dean Qiao quickly replied, ”To help staff the teams for the Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Pediatrics Departments, we selected one doctor from the former Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and one from the former Pediatric Care Department.”

”Will this affect the operation of the current departments?”

”No,” Vice Dean Qiao shook his head. ”Director Gao Qin has already made the necessary arrangements for that.”

”As long as it doesn’t affect the hospital’s operations, you can manage it as you see fit.”

After Du Heng finished speaking, he tossed the file back to Vice Dean Qiao.

Vice Dean Qiao seemed to have anticipated Du Heng’s action and simply placed the file back in front of him. Then he cleared his throat and said, ”Dean, the project application has been submitted. Now we just need to wait.”

Du Heng nodded. ”I’ve always had a question: is the collaboration between the Provincial Women and Children’s Hospital and us focused on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit?”

”No, it’s their Traditional Chinese Medicine Pediatrics department that signed the agreement with us.”

Traditional Chinese Medicine Pediatrics? Du Heng’s eyes widened. That’s an answer I didn’t expect. For the Provincial Women and Children’s Hospital to invest so much of its resources to help develop Traditional Chinese Medicine Pediatrics... their leadership is truly bold and visionary!

”What’s the form of cooperation? Do they have any special requirements?”

Vice Dean Qiao took a breath. ”Their proposal is that they hope you, Dean, can establish a project site at their hospital.”

”Can’t they just send people to our hospital to conduct joint project research?” Du Heng frowned slightly. ”Setting up two sites, like with the previous stroke project group, seems a bit troublesome. Besides, I’m currently involved in the stroke project research, and I’m afraid I’ll end up neglecting one for the other if I spread myself too thin.”

Vice Dean Qiao pursed his lips. ”That’s just their suggestion. The final decision is still up to you.”

Du Heng nodded. ”In that case, let them send people here. We’ll integrate them with our current team for joint research.”

”Is there a limit to the number of people?”

”No. As long as they can send them, we can accommodate them.”

Vice Dean Qiao raised his eyebrows and quickly asked, ”Dean, if there are too many people, how will we manage the distribution of research outcomes?”

Du Heng had already thought this through. ”We’ll share all project outcomes with them. As for research papers, I will only be the corresponding author. All first authorship positions will go to them—whoever writes the paper gets the credit.”

”Those who participate will be listed as co-authors; those who don’t, stay out of it. No disputes, no vying for credit, no undeserved co-authorship. I will personally guide the entire process.”

At this, Vice Dean Qiao’s eyes widened. Has the Dean lost his mind? he thought. Sharing the results with the Provincial Women and Children’s Hospital is one thing, but this paper authorship arrangement... The Dean is seriously overestimating the capabilities of our staff at the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital. If these people had any real research ability, they wouldn’t still be here, fighting tooth and nail over authorship for a Deputy Director’s paper.

”Dean, perhaps you should reconsider the paper authorship issue.”

”How so?”

”If our hospital’s doctors have to compete with doctors from the Provincial Women and Children’s Hospital for paper authorship, I’m afraid they’ll have a hard time without your direct help.”

Du Heng paused. ”Without my help? Didn’t I just say? The project is large. They find their own research directions, and once those are set, I will provide guidance throughout the entire process. As for anything else, I’m not getting involved.”