Outreach Eye Camp In The Countryside

By Yisi Zhan

 

Aipu Hospital is a private hospital in Xiantao, compared to large public hospitals whose most patients are from the countryside.   The Marketing team in the hospital holds an outreach eye camp every week to look for potential patients.  People in Xiantao are within middle-income group in China, although to them the cost of surgeryis still too high to afford.   Fortunately, Aipu has an agreement with the Health Department that all the costs of patients with New Rural Cooperative Medical Service could be covered by their insurance.  Two days ago we had the biggest one since I’ve been here in Guohe Town.

The most common ophthalmology diseases in the elders are cataract and glaucoma, which are the main diseases we were looking for during the simple eye screening. When we got there, the villagers gave us a warm welcome.

The ambulance labeled by a banner saying “Give Your Brightness, Deliver The Warmth”

People lining up for the numbers to see the doctor.

They seem like having been waiting for this eye screening so long that no one want to wait one more minute. The elders keep asking hospital staff all kinds of questions till they got satisfied answers. I’ve told the ophthalmology disease is bound to happen when people grow old, but most people in the countryside won’t take it seriously until they turned blind, when the effect of surgery will be less remarkable. Hospital coming here with free surgery is like savior to them. And the ambulance is truly a symbol of brightness and warmth into their lives.

Checking eyesight is the first step of eye screening for which staff of Aipu explains carefully to the elders to give instruction by order.

A doctor is giving free eye examinations to detect cataract.

He is the only doctor went to this outreach camp, and didn’t take a rest for three hours till lunch. Although the equipment is simple and crude, it can never affect his passion of eliminating avoidable eye disease for rural people.

 

After seeing the doctor, someone explained the policy on surgery and treatment for the elders carefully, make sure everyone understand the policy and their condition.

That morning and afternoon we received nearly 200 people and nearly half of them have different kinds of eye disease in different extent. The next day, some staff members drove to Guohe again picked up lots of patients who were waiting to get treatment in Aipu hospital. What they did is really impressive under fierce market competition.  It moved me deeply seeing how the staff care about patients and how devoted to their job. During my early interviews on their feeling and knowledge about the job, I also realized how to make most value in your ordinary position. The key is to love what you are doing, love the people around you and the place you are standing.