China's doctors urge patients to trust medics again in an effort to raise revenues lost in fighting the outbreak
One of Beijing's leading hospitals is urging sick people to trust it again, in a desperate attempt to earn money from non-Sars procedures.
Chaoyang Hospital wants the public to overcome its fear of Sars and start visiting doctors again.
The hospital's director, Wang Chen, claimed hospitals had been suffering financially because would-be patients were afraid of catching Sars. Compounding the problem, the 1,030-bed, state-owned Chaoyang Hospital had spent a large sum on protective clothing and imported medical equipment to deal with Sars. A grant of 1 million yuan (HK$940,000) from the city government was helping cover salaries for the 1,600 staff, but money for hospital building improvements had run out.
'As hospital director, I care most about [the money] issue,' Mr Wang said. Other Beijing hospitals are battling the same image problem and have also lost money.
A member of a city government team set up to give out information about Sars said it was understandable people might fear hospitals. 'You can imagine what you would do if you were sick now,' he said.
But Mr Wang said he saw no reason for patients to worry about catching Sars at Chaoyang Hospital.
