Trauma Center : Golden Hour - Chapter 96

Of course, this had no effect on Kang-hyuk.

For a while, that simple and somewhat childish ceremony continued.

At least until the announcement of the surplus rankings.

But when it turned to the deficit rankings, the atmosphere instantly cooled.

“Third place in deficit… Pediatrics. This is inevitable because of the neonatal intensive care unit. Still, it’s encouraging that the rate of immune therapy has increased and the deficit has decreased slightly.”

“Yes. Thank you for your efforts. Um… you know about immune therapy and growth these days, right? Growth. Pay more attention to that. I heard Chilseong Hospital made as much as a parking lot just from growth.”

“Yes, Director…”

“Nothing makes parents more sensitive than their children’s growth. It’s really true.”

“Yes.”

The head of pediatrics had a dissatisfied expression.

He himself was a vanguard of neonatal intensive care medicine, achieving world-class care for premature babies.

To tell a scholar and doctor respected both in domestic and international societies about money was inevitably hurtful to his pride.

But at the same time, he thought it was inevitable.

Having become responsible for running a department, he was newly realizing just how important money was.

“Next is Thoracic Surgery… Second place in deficit.”

While the head of pediatrics continued to rationalize, the Chief Secretary turned his attention to Thoracic Surgery.

The head of thoracic surgery nodded.

“Yes, well… I’ll do my best.”

But there wasn’t any real sense of apology.

Thoracic surgery, like pediatrics, wasn’t a department with any particular way to make money even at other hospitals.

It was just a matter of whether the deficit was large or small.

That difference depended on how many surgeries thoracic surgery performed.

Therefore, the only way for thoracic surgery to reduce its deficit was to do fewer surgeries.

But could a hospital that prided itself on being the best in Korea really reduce the number of surgeries it performed?

So, there was no way.

“Well… Understood.”

The Director and the Chief Secretary, who knew this fact all too well, simply let the head of thoracic surgery’s rather insincere response slide.

After all, even a deficit of one or two thousand wasn’t an enormous amount.

It was nothing if you considered it the cost to show the government and public that Hanguk University Hospital’s thoracic surgery department was running smoothly.

“Now, finally…”

So the Chief Secretary moved right to the final target.

Whether it was discussed in advance or not, everyone turned their gaze to Kang-hyuk.

Especially the Chief Secretary and the Head of Anesthesiology, Jin Tae-rim, looked particularly fierce.

“Severe Trauma Center, hereafter referred to as Trauma Surgery. Trauma Surgery’s January deficit is 421.1 million won. There are still unreduced parts, so it could increase.”

Hong Jae-hoon spoke each word with great emphasis.

“Huh…”

“Four hundred million…”

“In one month…”

Everyone was astonished by the huge amount of four hundred million won.

Even Han Yoo-rim, who had already seen the exact figure, opened his eyes wide.

Even hearing it two or three times, it was such a huge sum.

Even four hundred million in a year would not be a small amount, but it was four hundred million in a single month.

“It’s less than last month.”

In contrast, Kang-hyuk responded in a very calm tone.

Since everyone else was shocked, he seemed especially composed.

Naturally, the Chief Secretary and other directors were about to burst with anger.

“How can you say that? Four hundred million a month! Four hundred million!”

“But we saved lives. Quite a lot, too.”

“You said that last month! Other departments save lives too, you know! Without making a show of it like Professor Baek!”

The Chief Secretary stared at Kang-hyuk as if expecting him to be at a loss for words.

But instead, Kang-hyuk spoke smoothly, without missing a beat.

“Those patients would have seen similar results even if they were treated at other hospitals. Isn’t that right? Everyone learns the same surgical techniques, and everyone uses the same chemotherapy drugs.”

Kang-hyuk’s words were flawless.

Maybe it was different decades ago, but now, all information was published in papers.

Even treatment guidelines and diagnostic guidelines were updated regularly.

Moreover, in Korea, health insurance prevented even cutting-edge treatments from being used.

So you could say everyone was providing a fairly standardized level of care.

Unless a professor was really lazy, there was no way they wouldn’t keep up with the latest cancer treatment trends.

Th𝑖𝕤 𝖼hаp𝓉ҽr 𝒾𝙨 pℴ𝙨𝖙𝙚ⅾ b𝑦 𝙆𝙞𝙩𝙚η◎𝕧𝑒𝓁

“Well… but there are differences in skill!”

“Of course there are. But it’s not as pronounced as at the Severe Trauma Center. Take a look at my data.”

As he said that, Kang-hyuk pressed a button on a remote control device he was holding.

The screen showing ‘Trauma Surgery Deficit’ flickered with a crackling sound and changed to a completely different screen.

“W-what is this!”

The staff member in charge of the screen hurried to operate the computer.

But aside from the sound of frantic keyboard typing and mouse clicking, the screen from the projector didn’t change.

“W-why is it doing this?”

Kang-hyuk smiled at the confused staff member.

“Don’t panic, it’s because I bypassed the network.”

“Bypassed…? But this is a wired LAN…”

“There are ways to do it.”

Kang-hyuk tapped the remote control in his hand.

Only then did the staff member realize what the remote actually was.

“Don’t tell me… did you hack it?”

“Hack? I just borrowed it for a moment.”

“What…”

“Anyway, that’s not important. Let’s move on and look at the screen.”

In fact, everyone was already looking at the screen.

It was only natural, since the screen had suddenly changed and a flashy PowerPoint presentation was displayed.

Thanks to that, Kang-hyuk was able to continue speaking without interruption.

“If you look, all the major hospitals in the country, whether in name or in fact, operate a Severe Trauma Center.”

“Ah.”

Only then did the professors realize how the hospitals listed on the screen had been selected.

Seeing several professors nod, Kang-hyuk changed the slide.

“These are the results for those hospitals. Data excludes cases of death within one hour of arrival, since those deaths are more affected by the patient’s severity than by the center’s skill. What do you think?”

“Hmm…”

All the professors present were doctors.

Doctors instinctively focused when they saw a number with a percent sign.

They were trained from their student days that those numbers were important, and now actually worked in critical fields.

“Chilseong Hospital has the highest at 50%.”

The head of thoracic surgery muttered, pouting.

Compared to his own results, it was so poor that even calling it terrible wasn’t enough.

Kang-hyuk noticed that several professors were paying close attention and switched the slide.

“These are last month’s results for our center. There were 52 patients, and all but one survived. Only two cases resulted in aftereffects severe enough that the patient needed help for life.”

“Huh… That’s impressive.”

The head of thoracic surgery looked genuinely moved.

But not everyone reacted so sincerely.

The directors showed very cynical expressions.

“What are you trying to say by showing us this? That it’s okay to rack up a deficit of four hundred million if you do this well?”

Especially the anesthesiology head, Jin Tae-rim, who never liked Kang-hyuk, spoke with a sharp tone.

Kang-hyuk looked at her and smiled.

Like he was truly enjoying himself.

“I’m saying I’m good, yes. But I didn’t say it’s okay to rack up losses.”

“Then why show us this?”

“I just thought our hospital staff should know that our trauma center is running well.”

Somehow, that sounded a bit off.

“Our hospital staff? What does that mean?”

Professor Hong Jae-hoon couldn’t hold back and interjected.

Instead of answering, Kang-hyuk changed the screen.

This time, it wasn’t a PPT slide but a web browser window.

To be precise, it was the official SNS account of Hanguk University Hospital.

“W-what’s this?”

The director slammed the table after seeing the post from the official account.

Given he wasn’t usually very emotional, this was a massive reaction.

“What is this!”

Of course, compared to Hong Jae-hoon and the other professors, this wasn’t even that explosive.

Hong Jae-hoon was literally exploding.

“Are you insane!”

He yelled as he looked at the screen Kang-hyuk had shown.

It was a post from the official Hanguk University Hospital account, showing the exact same data Kang-hyuk had just presented.

<We at Hanguk University Hospital will not rest on this achievement but will strive to build a trauma center that meets the expectations of the public. First, we promise to hire more trauma surgery fellows and nursing staff. Thank you.>

On top of that, there was even a ridiculous message.

‘How could he possibly access the official account and post this?’

No one even wondered that.

All that came to mind was ‘What do we do about this?’

Kang-hyuk slowly stood up, looking around at the director and other directors, who were in shock.

“I posted that right when this meeting started. So it’s been less than an hour.”

“An hour…”

“And the likes are already over ten thousand, right? There must be news articles already. The media is desperate for good news these days. All they ever do is report bad news. Now that there’s something positive, of course they’re happy.”

“A-are you crazy? How are you going to deal with the aftermath of this!”

“Aftermath? What do you mean?”

Kang-hyuk looked genuinely puzzled and scrolled down.

He could see comments coming in in real time.

<We support you!>

<As expected of Hanguk University! I’m proud as an alum!>

<Please post a donation account.>

Kang-hyuk pointed to one of the most liked comments.

“Where is anyone criticizing Hanguk University Hospital? It’s all praise.”

“How is that praise for the hospital! It’s praise for you and the trauma center!”

Hong Jae-hoon pointed to the comments below the one Kang-hyuk indicated.

As he said, Kang-hyuk’s name showed up a lot.

They were all compliments.

At that, Kang-hyuk replaced the gentle expression he’d worn until now with a sharp look and replied.

Even the atmosphere in the meeting room changed completely.

“Yes. The compliments are for me. And for the trauma center.”

Kang-hyuk looked down at Professor Hong Jae-hoon, who couldn’t say anything in response, and continued.

“So don’t think about oppressing me with talk of deficits. Unless you want this favorable public opinion to become your enemy.”

“H-how do you expect us to cover that much deficit!”

“Don’t we get a lot in donations? Plus, the hospital receives government subsidies. If you just adjust the amount paid to the foundation each year, the deficit can easily be covered.”