January 28, 1980, West City District Government, Capital City.
The district government's largest conference room was packed with officials of every rank and reporters from the major newspapers.
The contract for Hua Country's first privately contracted hospital would be officially signed here.
Following the approval of the Ministry of Health's first report explicitly recognizing the legality of hospitals run by individuals and private enterprises, the former Fuwai Hospital in West City District had been designated a pilot institution and extended an invitation to the entire industry for the first time.
As the sole applicant, Song Ning had passed successive checks by the ministry, the city, and the district government, along with a week-long special review, securing the opportunity to run Hua Country's first pilot contracted hospital.
The news sparked widespread discussion and a strong public reaction.
Contracting a hospital was not like contracting a business.
Businesses manufactured products whose quality could be seen.
If a product was unsatisfactory, customers could file a complaint or return it.
Hospitals treated illnesses and saved lives. If treatment went wrong, human lives were at stake.
People outside the profession mostly debated whether ordinary citizens would dare to go, whether they could afford treatment, whether their illnesses could be cured, and whether the hospital could take responsibility if treatment failed...
Those within the profession focused more on whether the contractor was qualified, whether supporting facilities would be adequate, whether doctors could be recruited, whether management could keep up, and, most importantly, whether the contractor had the financial resources to sustain it...
While the outside debate continued unabated, Song Ning had already plunged into intensive preparations.
First, she spent an entire day at the post office, carefully making one phone call after another.
The longest of them was an overseas call to Mike.
She had previously