Chapter 554: The Quiet Rise of the Emergency Department, Choosing One to Love Forever

The patient had torn a 6cm gash in their esophagus from vomiting—a truly horrifying injury.

If a simple bout of vomiting could cause such damage, most of humanity would likely perish. Humans wouldn’t have multiplied to such staggering numbers.

This suggests the patient’s esophagus likely had underlying issues before the tear.

Perhaps it had become rigid or brittle over time.

This could be tied to the patient’s long-term alcohol abuse.

Once alcohol enters the body, it doesn’t just harm the liver and kidneys. It also damages multiple tissues and organs in the digestive tract. A drink or two might not matter much.

But over a decade of drinking, the cumulative damage becomes terrifying.

Each time the body is harmed, it might take two to three days—or even longer—to recover. Yet before full recovery, new damage from drinking strikes again.

Bit by bit, this builds up until the body faces a major breakdown.

That’s why nearly every doctor urges patients to quit smoking and drinking.

Following this line of thought, Zhou Can boldly speculated that the patient’s postoperative esophageal fistula might not stem from the surgeon’s poor skills but from pre-existing issues with the esophagus itself.

Of course, the surgeon’s skill level still played a role.

If a doctor’s expertise is top-notch, they can adapt based on the patient’s esophageal condition.

For instance, during suturing, if they notice the esophagus is brittle with poor elasticity, they can account for the tension it endures during use. They’d also consider whether the wound might heal slowly.

With these factors in mind, preventive measures can be taken during suturing.

This reduces the likelihood of an esophageal fistula forming.

At the very least, if Zhou Can performed this surgery, with his current skill level, he was confident he could prevent such a complication.

“Boss, you’ve got no issue handling this surgery, right?”

Jiang Wei noticed Zhou Can had finished reviewing the patient’s records and chimed in at the right moment.

“No one can guarantee success, but if they trust me, I’m willing to give it a shot.”

Zhou Can’s response was notably cautious.

After reviewing the case, though, he felt over ninety percent certain of success.

Anastomosis, repair, and suturing were all his strong suits.

Finding certain fistulas can be tricky.

But locating the opening of an esophageal fistula like this was relatively straightforward. The patient’s surgery had only been five days ago. With Zhou Can’s surgical expertise, he was fully confident in resolving it through endoscopic surgery.

“Then I’ll give my old classmate a definite answer right now!”

Jiang Wei sent a voice message in front of Zhou Can.

“Hey, old classmate, our boss has agreed to take on this private job. Just a heads-up, though—every surgery carries risks, and we can’t guarantee absolute success. If you’re okay with that, I’ll check with the boss about pre-surgery preparations. Get everything ready on your end, and we’ll come over to operate directly.”

It was clear from her tone that Jiang Wei stood firmly on Zhou Can’s side.

Though Zhou Can didn’t say it aloud, he felt quite pleased inside.

“Alright, alright! Thanks, Weiwei. Please thank Dr. Zhou for me too. This troublesome patient is finally sorted, and I can report back to the hospital leaders. I owe you a meal sometime soon!”

Jiang Wei’s old classmate was a woman.

Judging by her voice, she didn’t sound very old—likely under thirty.

Dealing with a difficult patient fell on her shoulders. Zhou Can guessed she might hold an administrative position at the hospital, perhaps as a deputy chief in the Medical Department or a department head in Gastrointestinal Surgery.

Leaders often earn higher salaries than regular staff, wielding significant authority and status.

But when problems arise in a department, it’s usually the leaders who step up first to put out the fire.

Power and responsibility always go hand in hand.

And so, the matter was settled.

Zhou Can entered the Emergency Department Operating Room to begin his busy afternoon work, which goes without saying.

Thanks to his hard efforts, the Emergency Department had undergone a dramatic transformation compared to two years ago. Now, it boasted sixty official inpatient beds.

That number only reflected the formally approved beds.

In reality, during patient surges, surgical beds could increase to around seventy, while internal medicine beds could reach fifty.

That’s a total of one hundred and twenty beds.

Consider this: one key standard for a top-tier hospital is having over five hundred inpatient beds.

Two years ago, the Emergency Department had only a handful of ICU beds and not a single regular inpatient bed. In less than two years, regular beds had surged to one hundred and twenty—an astonishing leap forward.

At the same time, the number of doctors and nurses in the Emergency Department had grown significantly.

Back then, the department could only take in ‘underperforming staff’ discarded by other departments. Now, the Emergency Department stood with newfound confidence.

With strong revenue generation and rapid growth in strength, it could ensure better compensation for doctors and nurses, reaching a relatively high level.

Quota allocations, promotions to associate and full professor ranks, and year-end bonus ratios—all these could now be negotiated with the hospital.

In the past, the Emergency Department had nothing to its name. Beyond endless grueling work, it offered little else.

Talented individuals steered clear of the department.

Even if recruited, they’d leave soon after.

Retention was impossible.

Now, look at the present. During each recruitment drive, Director Lou exuded confidence, even having the luxury to select top talent.

For those who had jumped ship to other departments only to struggle, and now wished to return—if they were truly exceptional, Director Lou might give them a chance.

But for those with average skills? Hah, now it was Director Lou’s turn to stand tall and proud.

As the saying goes, ‘You didn’t stand by me at my lowest, so who are you to join me at my peak?’

When Tuyu Hospital’s clinical departments recruited new staff, the Emergency Department had quietly outpaced underperforming or less promising departments.

Beyond the improved talent pool, the Emergency Department’s hardware facilities were advancing by leaps and bounds, resembling a complete overhaul.

They now had a Class 100 operating room, a traditional operating room, and a Class 10,000 operating room under construction, expected to be operational by month’s end.

The operating rooms were fully equipped.

Especially in Zhou Can’s Class 100 operating room, aside from a few particularly expensive specialized devices, all other surgical equipment was in place.

Most of it was imported.

There was no helping it—domestic production of advanced medical devices and instruments still lagged behind.

Take a simple microscopic endoscope, for instance. Olympus models could magnify thousands of times with guaranteed clarity. Domestic versions? Forget microscopic endoscopes—even standard microscopes couldn’t match Japan’s quality.

The number of emergency operating rooms had increased to three, with hardware facilities rivaling those of specialized departments.

This was just the tip of the iceberg in its rapid development.

For instance, the establishment of an Endoscopy Operating Room meant the Emergency Department now had endoscopic surgery capabilities.

The only thing lacking was doctors with high-level surgical skills.

Currently, the undisputed top expert in endoscopic surgery in the Emergency Department wasn’t Dr. Xu, but Zhou Can.

That said, Dr. Xu’s endoscopic surgery skills were quite impressive too.

Then there was the ICU’s development. Previously, the success rate for rescuing critically ill patients was merely passable. Now, after attracting top talent with doctoral degrees and continuously upgrading and refining ICU equipment, technical skills had progressed with the times.

The success rate for rescuing critically ill patients was now remarkably high.

This couldn’t have happened without Director Lou’s relentless efforts and wise leadership, nor without Zhou Can’s extensive support.

Zhou Can had deep ties with Tuyu’s Critical Care Department. Leveraging this connection, he secured significant support for talent training. The Emergency Department would recruit staff, send them to the Critical Care Department for training, and then bring them back to work.

Without Zhou Can acting as a bridge and pouring in effort, would the Critical Care Department have gone all out to help the Emergency Department’s ICU?

Only if they’d lost their minds.

The two departments were inherently in competition.

The stronger the Emergency Department’s ICU became, the fewer patients the Critical Care Department would receive.

To make this collaboration happen, Zhou Can had spent ages persuading Director Liu of the Critical Care Department. After making certain promises, Director Liu finally relented.

Facts proved Zhou Can’s foresight was extraordinary.

After the Emergency Department’s ICU grew stronger, it didn’t reduce the number of patients in the Critical Care Department. On the contrary, it increased them.

Why?

Because Cardiothoracic Surgery had soared to become one of the top departments of its kind in China.

Though this ‘top’ status came with some exaggeration, as long as patients and the public recognized it, that was enough.

Cardiothoracic Surgery was a department prone to producing critically ill patients.

With its rising reputation, patient admissions skyrocketed, and the number of cases transferred to the Critical Care Department surged alongside.

Additionally, the improved rescue success rate of the Emergency Department’s ICU attracted more critically ill patients to seek care there.

The Emergency Department serves as a hospital’s storefront.

The higher its success rate in rescuing critical cases, the greater the hospital’s reputation grows.

Beyond the Emergency ICU, the level of the Resuscitation Room had also risen. The success rate there was closely tied to the ICU and Emergency Operating Rooms.

With the ICU and Emergency Operating Rooms improving, even if the Resuscitation Room did nothing, it would still advance by association.

Currently, the Emergency Department’s only weak spot was likely Internal Medicine.

There was no helping it—they lacked top-tier internal medicine experts. Hiring a few doctoral or master’s graduates wouldn’t instantly raise the standard.

Despite Zhou Can’s good personal relationship with Director Tan of Internal Medicine, getting the Internal Medicine Department to help train key talent for the Emergency Department was a pipe dream. No fool would give away the meat from their own bowl.

Still, the Emergency Department’s Internal Medicine was progressing rapidly.

It just couldn’t compare to Surgery.

After all, Surgery had a prodigy like Zhou Can.

One more thing worth mentioning:

Zhou Can had started consciously reducing the number of Level 1 and 2 surgeries he performed, focusing instead on increasing Level 3 surgeries.

His surgical skills, aside from Orthopedics, had all reached Level 6 or above. Performing Level 1 and 2 surgeries no longer held much value for him.

Only by continuously tackling higher-difficulty Level 3 and 4 surgeries could he maintain rapid growth in his medical experience points.

Other newer doctors, under the guidance of Dr. Xu and others, started training with Level 1 surgeries.

Every surgeon grows this way.

This was also the healthy model for the Emergency Department’s Operating Rooms. Newcomers handled Level 1 surgeries, more experienced senior residents took on Level 2, and attending doctors began participating in Level 3 while leading Level 2 surgeries.

This ensured a virtuous cycle of talent development.

Currently, the Emergency Department’s Operating Rooms hadn’t yet broken through one barrier: they could only perform up to Level 3 surgeries.

Level 4 surgeries were still out of reach.

The reason? They lacked chief surgeon-level doctors.

Even a specialized chief surgeon could only perform Level 4 surgeries in their specific field. Surgical qualifications came with strict limitations.

A chief surgeon skilled in all surgical fields was unimaginable.

Perhaps nowhere in the world could such a chief physician be found.

Maybe in the near future, Zhou Can could achieve this.

But it was only a possibility.

After all, Zhou Can had the aid of the Medical Experience System, allowing him to cover in one or two years what other doctors took ten or even twenty years to achieve. Even for him, it was just a possibility. For other doctors, no matter how talented, a lifetime could only be dedicated to deep expertise in one or two fields.

This was determined by energy, time, and lifespan.

Many surgeons, by the time they graduate and start working, are at least 24, often 27.

Expert-level chief physicians are allowed to work until retirement at 65.

In a lifetime, the actual years spent working might only be thirty or so. As people age, learning ability, memory, and physical stamina all decline.

Thus, a lifetime can only be devoted to mastering one or two medical fields at most.

By 6:40 PM, Zhou Can dragged his exhausted body out of the operating room.

That afternoon, he had completed five Level 2 surgeries and three Level 3 surgeries.

The results were quite gratifying.

All eight surgeries were completed successfully.

Though tired, he felt a deep sense of accomplishment. The fulfillment of saving lives was strongest for clinical surgeons like him.

As he stepped out of the operating room, Su Qianqian was waiting nearby as always, holding a thermal lunchbox.

What defines a virtuous wife and loving mother?

Su Qianqian was the epitome of those words.

“Sis-in-law, bringing dinner for Dr. Zhou again? Seeing you two so in love makes me jealous!” Jiang Wei greeted with a smile.

“I just don’t want him to go hungry. Men get so caught up in work they forget to take care of themselves. I can only do my best to look after him.” Su Qianqian spoke softly, her gaze instinctively shifting to Zhou Can.

Her eyes brimmed with affection.

Wherever her gaze landed, it was on the man she loved deeply.

Even after living together for so long, they never grew tired of each other.

Instead, their bond grew tighter, inseparable as glue.

Zhou Can was a deeply emotional person. Influenced by his father, he remained loyal in love. After going through hardships with Su Qianqian—especially when her kidney disease nearly took her from him forever—he cherished their relationship even more.

Since then, witnessing life and death daily in his clinical work had deepened his understanding of life.

Scenes of patients parting from their lovers in death, or a partner giving everything to care for the other at their bedside, showed him the most beautiful side of love.

Having chosen Su Qianqian, he would never let her down.

“Dr. Zhou always praises your cooking, Sis-in-law! One day, I’ll have to shamelessly invite myself over to your place. I need to taste your dishes to live without regrets.” Jiang Wei was always extra warm whenever she saw Su Qianqian.

She made a point to compliment her.

This time, she even jokingly suggested visiting Zhou Can’s home.

Though said in jest, she figured someone as kind as Su Qianqian wouldn’t refuse.