The Beijing Social Welfare Hospital, located in Qinghe in northwest Beijing�s Haidian District, officially opened on December 27, 2001. However, by 5 p.m. on opening day, no patients had arrived for medical treatment. The serial number on the first registration bills specially made for low-income patients remained at 00001.
Our journalists started off at 2:55 yesterday afternoon by bus for the hospital from the Dongdan stop, two kilometers east of Tian�anmen Square, the heart of the city of Beijing. By 3:35 the journalists had made it to the Jishuitan stop where they changed to bus No.345 that took them to Qinghe in 35 minutes. After a 5-minute walk along the Qinghe River, the journalists arrived at the welfare hospital at 4:15. The journey took one hour and twenty minutes and cost 4 yuan.
Three hours and 8 yuan may seem not too bad for a round-trip bus trip, but it would take even more time and money for those patients who live farther away in the southern parts of the city. One laid-off worker who is not in good health, a woman surnamed Cai, commented: "What a long journey. A patient would have to spend 10 yuan and a whole day for a single medical treatment."
Why is the sole welfare hospital in Beijing set up outside the Fifth Ring Road? A leading official from Beijing Municipal Civil Affair Bureau explained: "We originally thought to build the hospital somewhere near to the Fourth Ring Road as a location convenient for most patients. But for some reason, in the end that plan was not realized."
The official did not explain in more detail, but said: "We came up against some difficulties during construction even though the municipal authority and relevant departments tried their best. The municipal authority allocated a great deal of funding and even transferred 15 percent of sales income from the welfare lottery to the project. We did everything we could."
Of course, Qinghe�s welfare hospital is just the beginning of a project to help the poor. A city measure recently passed -- The Preliminary Medical Assistance Program for Low-Income Households in Beijing -- will soon be put into effect. According to the measure: "The civil affairs administrations in different districts and counties along with public health departments will designate one or two non-profit state-owned hospitals to offer medical relief services for low-income patients in the city."
It has been learned that a list of such hospitals offering medical services to low-income families in Beijing is well under way.
(北京青年报[Beijing Youth Daily] December 27, 2001, translated for china.org.cn by unisumoon)
