Chapter 474: Turning the Tables: Hospital Crisis and Second Chances

“Dr. Zhou’s strategy is brilliant! Strike at the heart—General Surgery and Gastroenterology are the Third Hospital’s core strengths. Right now their Cardiothoracic Department is in chaos. If we hit those other two pillars while they’re scrambling, they’ll start to panic for real!”

Xin Wanshan from the Medical Department often sees himself as Zhou Can’s ally in all sorts of situations.

When Zhou Can shines, he cheers him on. When Zhou Can stirs up trouble, he helps smooth things over.

Zhou Can can feel this genuine goodwill.

Since they’ve started working together, Zhou Can hasn’t had much chance to repay Xin Wanshan. But he’s certain this friendship will bring Xin Wanshan great rewards before long.

“Building on Zhou’s idea, I’ve thought of a ruthless move. The Third Hospital has been pulling all sorts of strings lately, borrowing everywhere to build their second campus. They just got the land and are breaking ground as we speak. All the approvals are in—they’re already riding the tiger. If their core departments, plus Xingxin’s Cardiac Surgery, both take a dive now, things could get interesting. The first ones to panic would be the banks and partnering companies holding their debt.”

Deputy Director Bai’s a pro on the administrative side. This is his specialty.

“Banks aren’t charities. If they think their loans are in danger, they’ll be the first to demand repayment. At that point, the Third Hospital’ll have two choices—find a big backer and get through the crisis, or run out of money and go bankrupt on the spot.”

These hospital leaders know how to play rough—they don’t hold back when it’s time to make a move.

If they want you gone, they won’t let you catch your breath.

A place is never more vulnerable than when it’s feeling invincible and expanding fast.

Take Zhou Can’s family food processing plant, for example—if they’d never tried to expand production, that crisis wouldn’t have hit so hard. Same goes for the biggest real estate firms—move too fast, overreach, and one by one they crash hard.

On paper, the Third Hospital’s push to expand could’ve been a great thing.

But rushing it and hitting Tuyu Hospital so aggressively—that’s just asking for trouble.

Tuyu Hospital has been around for years. Whether it’s their government connections or their deep foundations, the Third Hospital can’t compete.

Forcing Tuyu up against the wall, making Director Zhu and the others feel like the hospital might go under—they’re bound to fight back with everything they’ve got.

Just look at today’s secret meeting—it shows the higher-ups’ determination.

As the discussion heated up, everyone started throwing out ideas and solutions.

When the brainstorming wound down, Director Zhu gave a closing speech.

“Thank you, everyone, for your great suggestions and for working together to save Tuyu. When you go back, please talk with your teams, show them extra care and support, and make sure they feel like this hospital is really a second home. Over twenty doctors and nurses were poached from Cardiothoracic—this is on me for not caring enough about our clinical staff. Director Xue, you should learn from this, too—focus on people, boost everyone’s sense of belonging.”

This was Zhu publicly criticizing Director Xueyan in front of all the hospital’s executives.

With such a big disaster in her department, it’s surprising Xueyan wasn’t removed as director—it must be because of these extraordinary times.

Cardiothoracic needs stability now more than ever.

If they swapped out the department head right now, it’d only make things shakier.

“This failure is on me. I’ll remember this lesson for the rest of my life.”

Director Xueyan really seems to have the odds stacked against her.

Her husband’s a scumbag, and the Cardiothoracic Department she runs keeps facing crises. Just as things started to look up, disaster struck again.

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“Don’t be too hard on yourself. We all learn and grow as we go. Everyone’s seen how much progress you’ve made since taking over Cardiothoracic. I’m confident you’ll become an outstanding director—maybe even take on bigger roles in the future.”

Director Zhu’s words instantly brought some color back to Xueyan’s tired face.

When a leader says you’ll be handed more responsibility, that’s code for a promotion.

At least it shows the hospital leaders aren’t blaming everything on her—they still want to give her a chance.

“Thank you, Director Zhu, and thank you to all the leaders!”

Xueyan got up, bowing deeply to the assembled top brass.

“Everyone needs to stay alert. If you hear about any clinical staff thinking about jumping ship, report it to me directly. Meeting adjourned.”

Director Zhu’s a true veteran, no doubt about it.

He’s led Tuyu Hospital from strength to strength. Even now, he stays on guard.

With Third Hospital poaching so many from Cardiothoracic, if Tuyu doesn’t treat it as a life-or-death threat and take firm action, the trouble will spread to other departments.

A top-tier provincial hospital like Tuyu could crash from glory to mediocrity in no time.

Collapse is a stretch, though.

Even a wreck of a ship still has a few good nails left.

No matter how aggressive the outside hospitals get, all they can really do is poach a few stars.

And it’s not like everyone can be lured away, either.

With someone as loyal as Zhou Can, no offer will tempt him.

When everyone was leaving, Zhou Can called out to Director Xueyan.

“Sis Yan, can I call you later to talk?”

Losing so many experts in Cardiothoracic has been devastating.

Zhou Can has to help her.

“Just come to my office. I’ve already divorced him.”

When Xueyan said this, Zhou Can saw some pain flicker across her face.

“Oh…”

He hadn’t expected her divorce to happen so fast.

“That jerk isn’t even human. He took money from Third Hospital just to mess with me. Marrying him was the worst mistake—I must’ve been blind… Forget it, it’s over now. No point talking about him anymore.”

Director Xueyan must have been deeply hurt to cut ties so decisively.

Sometimes ripping off the bandage is better than dragging out the pain. The breakup might be for the best.

Her husband taking money from the Third Hospital just to betray her—he wasn’t just cruel, he was stupid. It’s honestly tragic to see someone stoop so low.

Following her to her office, Zhou Can left the door open.

“Is Cardiothoracic still functioning okay?”

“We’re managing! The real problem is with surgeries and specialist consultations. But I’ve already started bridging the gap: letting promising junior staff take on bigger roles. With me, Director Le, and Director He keeping watch, things are under control. As long as nothing else goes wrong, we’ll get through this—and maybe use the chance to promote a new wave of young talent.”

As Xueyan spoke about managing the department, her eyes sparkled with determination.

She’s really been given no break at all.

Fresh out of a divorce, she doesn’t even have time to grieve—she has to pour herself into fixing staffing crises.

“Trouble and opportunity often go hand-in-hand. Handled right, Cardiothoracic can end up even stronger. Even if they’d stolen thirty instead of just twenty-plus staff, it’s not the end—what we have plenty of is solid mid-level talent.”

Zhou Can nodded thoughtfully.

What Cardiothoracic really lacks is top-tier talent.

As long as Xueyan, Director Le, and Director He stay, Cardiothoracic won’t collapse.

“Actually, the more experts leave, the more high-profile we should be.”

Xueyan frowned slightly, unsure what he meant.

“What do you mean by high-profile?”

Normally, Zhou Can’s style is to keep a low profile whenever he can.

“Tackle tough surgeries, solve difficult diagnoses, and save severe cases. Every time we succeed, we make sure everyone hears about it. Most patients seeking us out don’t know if we’re understaffed or not. This way, we counter the rumors about big losses—and might even boost our reputation.”

So Zhou Can’s strategy isn’t just bluff—it’s about defending hard-won ground any way he can.

He’s fighting tooth and nail to protect what they’ve built.

One thing he can’t stand is betrayal.

Those staff who left for higher pay—he thinks they’ve betrayed Tuyu Cardiothoracic without a second thought. Disloyal and selfish.

If Tuyu Cardiothoracic can stabilize, those defectors will regret it while it’s too late.

“Deal! But I’ll definitely need your help.”

Xueyan knows better than anyone—Zhou Can is worth several ordinary experts.

Whether it’s diagnostics, surgery, or critical rescue, he’s in a league of his own.

“No problem. I’ll talk to Pediatrics about adjusting my outpatient shifts, maybe set a daily quota. For Emergency Department, I can reduce to half-days. That should let me spend a few hours daily in Cardiothoracic during these tough times.”

He’s been mulling this over for a while.

He started doing outpatient shifts to get hands-on experience with all sorts of emergency patients.

Now his Pediatrics outpatient work is seasoned enough that he can focus on fewer cases and boost quality.

Half-day shifts in Emergency are enough to handle the usual acute cases.

This special arrangement—Emergency in the morning, Cardiothoracic in the afternoon—might actually help his skills grow faster.

……

In a flash, over twenty days zipped by, with Zhou Can busier than ever.

Meanwhile, two more surgeons joined the Emergency Department operating team.

One of them is a senior attending surgeon—he came from General Surgery, where he was phased out, but he’s still solid. Shame his personality is a bit cold—he doesn’t mix well with others.

Director Lou figured his skills were strong, and after consulting Dr. Xu, decided to give him a trial run.

A few days in, they saw that apart from being standoffish, he worked hard and did top-notch surgery.

That day, after finishing surgery, Zhou Can was doing his ward rounds when Director Lou summoned him over.

In the office, Director Lou beamed at him.

“Zhou, Emergency is what it is today because of you. The hospital has three precious slots this year for bachelor’s degree doctors to pursue further studies—in a flexible program, so you can keep working. I already signed you up, but it’ll depend on your own ability whether you make the cut.”

Director Lou just made the call for him—clearly treating Zhou Can as one of the team.

“I’m already at my limit with work! Where will I find time to study?”

Zhou Can couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

For any bachelor’s-level doctor, this is a rare chance.

But Zhou Can’s plate is overflowing.

He dreams of further study—but only if he can find the time!

For him, postgraduate exams are no longer that intimidating. With his skills, he doesn’t need any favoritism to get in.

Of course, some high-demand programs are fiercely competitive.

Getting bumped out at the interview stage by someone with connections always happens.

Plus, every advisor has their own preferences. If they have enough good candidates, it’s normal to reject those they don’t like.

“There’s always a way to squeeze in time! If you win a postgraduate slot, I’ll halve your workload in this department. As for Pediatrics, you’re already limiting your number of outpatients—so that’s under control. Cardiothoracic, though, is up to you. I won’t meddle.”

Director Lou knows every detail of Zhou Can’s workload.

He knows Zhou Can has given his all to help Cardiothoracic. Lou’s never spoken against it—though he’s definitely not thrilled inside.

People are self-interested, after all.

Nobody likes seeing their own staff making another department thrive.

“If you’re supporting me like this, I’ll give it a shot.”

Zhou Can’s determined to use this chance—at least get his degree up to master’s level.

Otherwise he’ll be stuck at a disadvantage in his career.

“Your future advisor specializes in Orthopedic Trauma. The exam’s straightforward Western Medicine—you’ll be fine. I can share one thing: if you pass both written exams, the hospital will back you in the interview. Plus, since you’re so busy, your advisor will cut you some slack on coursework.”

Director Lou tipped him off—both about the benefits and the field he should prepare for.

“Orthopedic Trauma is part of surgery—right up your alley. And honestly, you’re pretty versatile—there’s nowhere you can’t fit in.”

“Heh, is that a compliment or an insult? This sounds like a real opportunity, and you can count on me to give it my all.”

With Director Lou, Zhou Can never stands on ceremony.

Lou never puts on airs with him, either.

The longer Zhou Can’s worked in the Emergency Department, the more respect he’s earned from Lou.

When a chance this big comes along, there’s nothing to discuss. Of course he’s going all out for it.

“Go on then! Just be sure not to get knocked out in the first written test.”

Lou waved him off.

The written exam’s a national test—if he fails, it’s just bad luck.

But Zhou Can isn’t someone who’ll flop at the starting line.

For postgraduate exams, he might do well to ask Director Xueyan for help. With her on board, the written and interview rounds should be a breeze.