The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 796 The Tainted Charity

The sleep during the latter part of the night was quite good. No emergency patients were sent over, which was a great thing.

Now, Liu Banxia didn't even hope for fewer patients to come in daily; he just hoped no one would come for emergency treatment in the middle of the night. After all, when he had just woken up, his brain's reaction could be slightly delayed, easily leading to missed diagnoses, misdiagnoses, and improper treatments.

"Teacher Liu, Teacher Liu, come here."

Just as he was about to go to the cafeteria to eat, Liu Yiqing waved at him.

"What's up? Yesterday's female patient?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Yes, their crowdfunding has already raised over fifty thousand. Teacher Liu, can we help them?" Liu Yiqing asked.

"They say you're clueless at times, and you really are," Liu Banxia looked at her helplessly.

"Teacher Liu, I just want to help her. Her family is also raising money now. They have about thirty thousand now and plan to borrow more from relatives and friends, then come over," Liu Yiqing said, looking a bit wronged.

"From now on, just call yourself Simple Qing. You have no sense of self-protection at all. Have you eaten yet?" Liu Banxia asked.

"No."

Being called "Simple Qing," Liu Yiqing was a bit miffed.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go eat first. Tell me, what's your take on crowdfunding?" Liu Banxia asked.

"It's great. It can help patients," Liu Yiqing said.

"Then have you noticed a problem? That there are often some people wandering around in the wards upstairs in our hospital?" Liu Banxia continued to ask.

"I saw them. Yesterday, they were the ones who came directly to offer help. Otherwise, if we let the family contact them, who knows how long it would take, and it might not even happen," Liu Yiqing said.

"Well, think about it. Why are these people so enthusiastic about helping patients crowdfund? They're all young people, spending all day in the hospital. Don't they need to live? Don't they need to earn money?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Of course, they do, but this is also doing a good deed," Liu Yiqing said defensively.

"Then the question is very simple: where does their salary come from?" Liu Banxia asked again.

"The platform gives it, of course," Liu Yiqing replied without much thought.

It's a simple principle, right? Platform staff are naturally paid by the platform.

Liu Banxia chuckled. "Then, wise one, give it some more thought: a charitable platform, where does their funding come from, and how can they afford to pay so many people?"

Liu Yiqing was stunned for a moment. Yes, the salaries of so many people would be a considerable expense each month. With so many hospitals in Binhai City, there must be a lot of them, right? Where would the platform get the funds to pay so many people?

"Simple Qing, do you understand now? Although I don't know much about it, I instinctively feel that there's something fishy about their so-called crowdfunding," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"They have their own review process, but when I gave them the diagnoses and other materials, they didn't seem to look at them carefully. They just took them, and then the platform's crowdfunding began."

"The signing doctor and the hospital both have responsibilities. Whether this girl's family truly doesn't have much money, we can't say for sure."

"The reason I signed and provided the materials was simply my personal, subjective judgment. Our idea is to help where we can, but that help has its limits." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"The fundraising amount for a patient isn't something we can intervene in. The money raised is first transferred to their personal account. How much of this money is used to pay medical fees and how much is used for other things are also things we cannot interfere with."

"Indeed, in recent years, many people have benefited from crowdfunding platforms, raising money to get their illnesses treated. But there are also some people who are purely profiting from it."

"Think about it: how would the kind-hearted people who donated feel if they knew the truth? Anyway, our responsibility as doctors in such situations is just to be a witness certifying the patient's condition, and that's it."

"Why bother getting involved in other matters? Isn't it better to spend that time sleeping more? As for you, sometimes I don't know what to say. You often get too invested in your patients."

"Teacher Liu, I just want to help others," Liu Yiqing said, looking very wronged.

"Helping people is indeed necessary. If you hadn't been so insistent yesterday, I basically wouldn't have bothered. Pretty cold-blooded, right?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

"No, Teacher Liu is a good person. How could you be cold-blooded? Manager Zhou, get Teacher Liu six tea eggs," Liu Yiqing said quickly.

"Your bribery won't work. We must follow regulations," Liu Banxia said.

"Yesterday, you were so frantic, and the girl was indeed severely beaten. So, even though she had clearly refused, we still fulfilled our duty to persuade her. Ultimately, we performed the surgery even though she hadn't paid the standard deposit."

"Think about it, what if her family or friends divert the crowdfunded money for other uses? Then you'd be there cheering them on. Even if your intention wasn't to defraud, you'd effectively be helping them commit fraud."

"People can't all be that bad, can they?" Liu Yiqing asked, her confidence wavering.

"You can know a person's face, but not their heart. There's a high chance she won't do such a thing, but it's still possible. If everyone knew they were scammers, these incidents wouldn't be exposed," Liu Banxia said.

"After all, many people who donate don't necessarily follow up on the patient's subsequent situation. More responsible platforms might monitor the funds accordingly," he added.

"But what about those platforms that exist solely for profit? Their task isn't to help patients get treatment, but to set up crowdfunding projects to earn a commission from them," he queried.

"Someone like our patient is the perfect subject. She can evoke sympathy, her illness is treatable, and all that's lacking is the substantial medical expense," he continued.

"Anyway, just remember one thing: wherever money changes hands, all sorts of problems can arise. This is an immutable truth. It might not be on any exam, but you still need to remember it," he concluded.

"What are you talking about? Liu Yiqing has been doing very well recently, hasn't she? Why are you criticizing her again?" Shi Lei asked, approaching with a food tray.

"This girl is too soft-hearted. I feel I should help her readjust her worldview," Liu Banxia said.

"Dr. Shi, I didn't do anything. I just want to help people," Liu Yiqing quickly interjected.

"Alright, this is a big issue. I think I'll sit this discussion out. Today's millet porridge is good, quite nice," Shi Lei said.

"See? Even the usually honest Dr. Shi is avoiding this issue. That shows how serious it is," Liu Banxia said, feigning seriousness.

"I don't even know what you're talking about. What am I avoiding? Why do you have so many tea eggs? Share one with me," Shi Lei said, reaching over and taking one.

Liu Banxia chuckled and briefly recounted his conversation with Liu Yiqing.

"This matter is indeed a bit tricky," Shi Lei said.

"From Liu Yiqing's perspective, it's very simple: she wants to help more people, which is a truly good thing. For an old hand like Liu Banxia, however, being cautious isn't wrong either."

"What are you doing? I was trying to get an ally, not for you to be a fence-sitter! Did you eat my tea egg for nothing?" Liu Banxia said helplessly.

"Dr. Shi, eat up. I bought the tea eggs," Liu Yiqing said cheerfully.

"But some situations do indeed exist. Some people will create various pretexts to raise money; they're after the money, not treating illnesses," Shi Lei said.

"When I was in school, I participated in some extracurricular activities. The one that left the deepest impression on me was our visit to a sixteen-year-old leukemia patient."

"Teachers and students from the school, as well as people from all walks of life, donated money and goods, and the child was well taken care of. However, they couldn't find a matching bone marrow donor, and after six months, the child himself gave up."

"That was many years ago, and a lot of money and goods were donated. Although the child himself gave up, donations from outside continued to arrive, and this family took it all."

"I'm not trying to criticize anything. Because I was studying medicine, I understood a little about related medical knowledge back then."

Liu Yiqing fell silent. Although Shi Lei hadn't spelled it out, she understood what the outcome of continuing would be. To put it bluntly, initially, the child's parents genuinely wanted to treat their child's illness. Later, when they saw that treatment was truly hopeless and the child was suffering, they also gave up. But while giving up, they didn't want to relinquish the donations and resources coming from outside. The situation, which started with good intentions, had become distorted by the end.

"So, in similar situations, it's actually better to be more cautious. Haven't there been many examples reported in the news where, once the crowdfunded money was withdrawn, the people involved disappeared?" Shi Lei continued.

"I just want to help more people," Liu Yiqing mumbled, poking at the porridge in her bowl with her spoon.

"But you forgot one thing: our hospital is one of the patient's guarantors. We are already helping. If you get too involved, you could very well be exploited," Liu Banxia said.

"You can still help in the hospital. Once she's transferred to a general ward, you can take even more meticulous care of her. That's your area of expertise, and it's much better than drumming up support for her fundraising."

Liu Yiqing nodded, seeming to understand that she really couldn't get too involved.

However, she felt a bit indignant. This was supposed to be a good charitable endeavor; she didn't understand when it had become so tainted. If kind-hearted people become disheartened, what will happen to those who genuinely need help in the future? She couldn't figure it out; she just felt very uncomfortable.

Liu Banxia and Shi Lei glanced at each other and said no more. They couldn't just keep instilling too many negative thoughts in Liu Yiqing; it was still important to promote positive energy.