Wuxi No.1 People's Hospital

Wuxi No. 1 People's Hospital

LG fell ill last month. He was checked by the general practitioner at UFH Wuxi just before Chun Jie, and we were told he had a virus. The physician we see at UFH Wuxi is only at Wuxi clinic on Thursdays, and was headed out on holiday after our visit. Over the course of the weekend, LG's fever rose, and his breathing seemed labored.

By Sunay night, it was decided, we would call in to UFH's Shanghai clinic, since the english speaking Doctor at Wuxi clinic was on holiday. I needed to have our son seen by a pediatrician for peace of mind.

I ran into a roadblock due to a UFH Shanghai policy regarding appointments for "new" sick patients. They have a policy that parents must call at 5:00p the day before they want an appointment for a sick child. Since LG would be a new patient, he would require 40 minutes for consult and evaluation. The pediatrician did not have forty available minutes for an appointment the next day. I explained hat I could wait a day or so for an appointment. I was told again, that I would need to call back the next evening at 5:00p to try for the next day.

Frustrated, I phoned my husband and he had his assistant help me make an appointment at Wuxi No. 1 People's Hospital with a pediatrician on the VIP floor. With my husband's assistant by our side, we were able to see a pediatrician the same day and have our son assessed.

We saw Dr. Ling Li. She was supposed to be fluent in English, yet she relied on our translator to communicate with us. I was bit miffed that we were told she was fluent in English,yet she was answering our questions in Mandarin. However, it was what it was, and my son's well being was worth more than me being upset over something as silly as language barriers.

The pediatrician fully assessed LG and was very patient and soft with him. I felt like she made him comfortable and had a good bedside manner, smiling and talking to him.

We were told our baby was sick.

"Yes, we know he is sick. What does he have?"

"Your baby need medicine."

"But what's the diagnosis? What is wrong with him?"

"He have lung infection. He need breathing treatments."

After a few more probing questions, we agreed to nebulizer treatments, antibiotics and a bronchodilator medication. We would do three breathing treatments over the course of the week.

Following the janitor ( in grey) to the pharmacy counter

Once we finished with the pediatrician, a janitor (yes, a janitor), met us at the checkout counter (where we also paid for the services) and escorted us to the pharmacy counter without prescription. He picked up the medications and motioned for us to follow him up the escalator into the main hospital. We went through some doors, past a massive line of people waiting and into a room filled with boxes to a nurse behind a counter. He handed the nurse the nebulizer medication. She in turn, handed us a baby mask, and put the nebulizer medication into the mask.

From there, we were lead next door to the breathing treatment room. This was a communal room filled with about 30 nebulizer stations and benches. We were shown to a corner bench- once seated, the nebulizer tubing was placed on a machine, and I sat LG in my lap and proceeded to give him a treatment with many spectators.

We returned three days later for the pediatrician to re-assess his illness. On this visit, I learned that she could speak English! She told me that she is more comfortable with Mandarin, so when someone like me comes with a translator, she prefers to speak in the language she is most comfortable. I told her that her English was good, and the remainder of our second visit was completed in English. Dr. Li is a very nice woman.

Overall, the experience was not as bad as I had imagined it would be. It was helpful to have a translator, and although VIP services cost considerably more (as of 1/2013 it costs 10rmb for regular registration vs 150 rmb for VIP registration, which allowed us to be seen right away in a clean exam room) I felt that it was worth every penny. Overall, total cost for registration, two examinations, three nebulizer treatments, antibiotics and expectorants was approximately 450rmb.

Would I use Wuxi People's Hospital regularly? Probably not. I am still stuck in my western ways, and prefer to see foreign physicians..however, I will not hesitate in an emergency situation, to utilize Wuxi People's VIP floor in the future.

I'm just thankful that Dr. Li was able to help us in a time of need and get LG on the road to recovery.

-Elle Lay

Contact info:

Wuxi No. 1 People's Hospital
Tel:0510-82700775
Add:299 Qingyang Rd.
Nanchang Dist.

清扬路299号

http://www.wxfh.com/ (Chinese website)

Dr. Ling Li (pediatrician)