Perna blinked her bright, shining eyes. "Wh-why?"
"Human nature." Joseph organized his wording for a moment, then said, "You must remember, human nature is always selfish.
"Take the low-priced medicine you mentioned, for example. People would immediately pretend to be sick and buy it in bulk, then resell it to pharmacies for a little extra money. The hospital's medicine stock would soon be drained."
Perna froze, but soon nodded slowly. "You're right. It seems we can only have everyone buy medicine from pharmacies, while the Simple Hospital is responsible only for diagnosis and treatment."
Then she smiled again. "But even so, it can still save everyone a great deal of money."
The medical model of this era was still mainly centered on private clinics. Doctors made house calls for treatment, so naturally their fees were not low.
Joseph sighed and shook his head again. "I'm afraid even that may not be possible. According to your plan, the Simple Hospital would make almost no profit, so the doctors' salaries would inevitably be very low."
Perna nodded. "That is true. Doctors would receive 65 francs a month. Nurses, 28 francs."
Joseph said, "Such meager income simply cannot make them maintain their professional conduct.
"Before long, doctors would give priority to patients willing to pay more, or have people who had already recovered come back for repeated follow-up visits.
"Oh, it would not even be strange if they directly rented out beds and tents.
"In the end, people would discover that seeing a doctor at the Simple Hospital was not much cheaper than finding other doctors."
Looking at Perna, who had already gone blank, he still insisted on finishing. "In truth, even if everyone were a selfless saint, it still wouldn't ultimately achieve the result you envision.
"A Simple Hospital like this could