After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

Three days later, the duty officer at the Municipal Health Bureau opened the complaint materials.

After reading the first page, he put down his breakfast.

The report involves the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital.

It involves foreign patients.

It also implicated "China Standard," which had already been sent to The Lancet.

Local health departments do not have direct authority over military hospitals and dare not treat the matter as an ordinary complaint.

The call was quickly made to the Provincial Health Department.

After receiving another report with the same content, the Provincial Health Department verified the two documents and submitted them to the Ministry of Health through a special channel that afternoon.

Inside the Ministry of Health office building.

After reading the letter of complaint, Vice Minister Li pulled out a formal report submitted three days earlier by the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital from the left side of the table.

He placed the two documents side by side on the table.

The whistleblower letter reads:

"Internal handling of serious medical incidents."

The first page of the official report still bears that striking red pen correction mark.

[A case of acute femoral artery thrombosis with severe postoperative complications was successfully treated with catheter-directed thrombectomy.]

The complete surgical record, debriefing process, and follow-up examination results of the child are attached.

The head of the Medical Administration Department sat opposite him and, after reviewing the two documents, said, "The whistleblower has very detailed information; he must be an employee of the hospital."

"However, he omitted the results of the rescue and did not mention that the hospital had reported it proactively."

Vice Minister Li picked up the letter of complaint.

"Omitting the result does not mean that the aforementioned risks do not exist."

"With sixteen children working on the same process at the same time, if even one link in the team falls behind, problems can arise one after another."

The head of the Medical Administration Department asked, "Should we suspend the surgeries?"

Vice Minister Li did not answer immediately.

After a moment, he picked up the phone.

"Contact the military region's health department."

"A joint investigation team was formed this afternoon and stationed at the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital."

"The simultaneous operation at both platforms will be suspended until the investigation results are released."

After hanging up the phone, the head of the Medical Administration Department nodded.

Vice Minister Li added another sentence.

"When we investigate the problem, we also need to find out exactly what they did after discovering the problem."

In the evening, two official vehicles drove into the North City Military Region General Hospital.

Personnel from the Medical Administration Department of the Ministry of Health, the Provincial Health Department, and the Health Department of the Military Region got off the car together and went directly into the administration building.

The news quickly reached the foreign patients' ward.

Outside the nurses' station, family members who were originally waiting for surgery gathered together.

"I heard that the double-operation surgery is going to be suspended?"

"My child had another episode of pulmonary hypertension last night. Surgery was originally scheduled for the day after tomorrow, but it's been postponed. How long do we have to wait?"

"Has something really happened at the hospital?"

"Some people say they make sixteen machines a day, turning the children into an assembly line."

The discussions grew increasingly chaotic.

A mother who had come from Gansu sat outside Ye Zhen's office, holding her four-year-old daughter.

The child's lips were purple, and his breathing was very shallow.

The woman hugged her daughter tightly and said only one sentence.

"As long as Dr. Ye can still do it, I'll wait here."

Inside the office, Ye Zhen closed the last medical record.

The patient's medical records, awaiting surgery, are laid out on the table.

Every day that stops, another group of children will continue to suffer from oxygen deprivation.

Zhou Hai pushed open the door and came in, his forehead covered in sweat.

"The joint investigation team has entered the conference room."

"The Ministry of Health's temporary opinion is to suspend the simultaneous scalping of two machines, and to decide whether to resume it after the investigation is completed."

Ye Zhen asked, "Who's leading the team?"

"The Medical Administration Department, the Provincial Health Department, and the Military Region Health Department."

Zhou Hai lowered his voice.

"The family members outside have all heard the news. Should we have the security department persuade them to return to their wards?"

"Have the nurses check again according to the risk level."

Ye Zhen stood up and handed the top few medical records to Gao Yuan.

"Those with a history of pulmonary hypertension should be listed separately, and the frequency of patrols will be increased tonight."

After explaining all this, she picked up the remaining medical records.

Zhou Hai reached out and took half of it.

"Are you planning to take all of these with you?"

"The investigation team needs to assess whether it is necessary to use two knives simultaneously."

Ye Zhen walked towards the door.

"These children are a necessity."

The office door opened.

The family members in the corridor fell silent at the same time.

Ye Zhen didn't explain. She carried the stack of medical records and walked through the passage cleared by the crowd.

The meeting room door was open, and people were seated on both sides of the long table.

Vice Minister Li of the Ministry of Health sat in the center.

Officials from the Medical Administration Department, the Provincial Health Department, the Municipal Health Bureau, and the Beicheng Military Region General Hospital lined up on both sides.

A video camera was propped up on the corner of the table.

The investigation began on file the moment they entered the meeting room.

Ye Zhen pushed the door open and came in.

Zhou Hai followed behind, holding the medical records in his arms.

Lin Yi, Li Hong, Liu Xiaohe, and Gao Yuan entered in turn.

Vice Minister Li didn't beat around the bush.

"You haven't seen the report materials yet."

"Let me first state my provisional opinion."

"Sixteen cases were completed in one day with two operating tables operating simultaneously, which has exceeded the normal capacity."

"The child's leg was saved this time, but whether it can be detected in time next time is something no one can guarantee in advance."

"International patients and critically ill domestic patients are all concentrated here. Once irreversible damage occurs, the impact will extend beyond the hospital."

"My suggestion is to immediately stop the dual-operation mode and revert to single-operation surgery."

Just as Zhou Hai was about to speak, Ye Zhen had already placed her hand on the stack of medical records.

"Zhang Xiaobao developed acute femoral artery thrombosis, which is a serious postoperative complication."

"The existing procedures are insufficient in identifying the combined risks of young age, small blood vessels, dehydration, and high platelet aggregation."

"The student in charge of the oppression exceeded the time limit by three minutes, and did not proactively raise the patrol level after the time limit was exceeded."

"These problems all exist."

The meeting room fell silent.

An official from the provincial health department had prepared several pages of questioning materials.

Ye Zhen took the initiative to clarify the problem, which caused him to lose his direction in attacking the problem.

Zhou Hai couldn't help but remind him.

All sixteen children were safe in the end.

"Peace of mind is the result of the rescue efforts."

Ye Zhen interrupted him.

"The risks in the process cannot be erased by the outcome."

Vice Minister Li stared at her.

"Since you admit that the process is flawed, you should accept the suspension."

"I accept the decision to discontinue the old plan."

Ye Zhen divided the medical records into several stacks and laid them out one by one.

"I am applying to establish a conditional dual-platform pilot program."

The head of the Medical Administration Department frowned.

"A serious complication just appeared, and you immediately applied for a pilot program. What makes you think the risk can be controlled?"

Ye Zhen pulled out the first medical record.

"Chen Xiaoyan, five years old, has a ventricular septal defect and has experienced two episodes of hypoxia in the past 48 hours."

The second one.

"Wang Qing, seven years old, patent ductus arteriosus with severe pulmonary hypertension, nocturnal blood oxygen saturation as low as 61."

The third one...

She handed them out one by one.

"Of the 56 backlogged children, 27 require immediate intervention."

"Nine children may suffer from pulmonary hypertension crisis, heart failure, or sudden death."

"After resuming single-machine mode, a maximum of six to eight cases can be scheduled per day."

"Including postoperative observation and emergency room access, at least some of these nine children will need to have their treatment postponed."

Vice Minister Li tapped on the table.

"Is it worth taking risks to save more lives?"

"cannot."

Ye Zhen answered quickly.

"Therefore, I did not request to reinstate yesterday's plan."

"The new pilot program must include upper limits, tiered systems, personnel qualifications, post-operative monitoring, and an automatic shutdown mechanism."

She took out a handwritten proposal and pushed it to the center of the table.

Article 1.

The daily limit for two stations has been reduced from sixteen to twelve.

Article .

Two catheterization labs should not accommodate level 4 high-risk patients at the same time.

Article 3.

Core steps such as radiofrequency guidewire penetration, occluder release, and stent positioning can only be performed by Ye Zhen or doctors who have passed independent assessments.

Article 4.

For children at level 3 risk, limb circulation should be checked every ten minutes after surgery.

Children with level four illnesses must be monitored by a designated person at their bedside for three hours at a time.

Article 5.

If any irreversible damage occurs during or after the operation, the dual-station pilot program will be automatically suspended.

Article 6.

Surgical video, complication records, resuscitation process, and debriefing conclusions must be submitted to the General Hospital, the Department of Health, and the Medical Administration Department on the same day. The original records must not be modified.