Our tour guides tell us that there are several million people in Shanghai, and that China contains the majority of the most populated cities in the world. What's strange about that statistic is that Shanghai (the “city”) is bigger than a state in the US. No wonder there's millions here. The subway system is packed with people; the streets are packed with people. Its insane. Plus, there are high rise apartment buildings everywhere that look similar to the old B'more high rise projects... you know, the ones they tore down a few years back because they were “inhumane living conditions.”
On Sept 3, we visited Abbott Labs. The conversation included a quick glimpse into the Chinese healthcare system. What a mess! Yes, the healthcare system is socialized, but each individual has a lifetime cap on what the government will pay for their health care. In other words, if you have a chronic disease, you're done. Once you hit your cap for care, everything else is out of pocket. We learned about a hospital that sees 16,000 outpatients per day (like an ER). There are no real primary care physicians. Doctors don't really have specialities, and they have tiers for hospitals. Patients want to go to the highest tier hospital, which is why the popular hospital in Beijing sees 16,000 patients a day (that's about as many as a community hospital's ER in one year). Inpatients at one time, were thousands of beds... a far cry from our 200-300 bed hospitals in Baltimore.
This morning, we visited Dow. It was the most amazing building I've been in. The gymnasium had a full basketball court and spinning room. There was a full wing for education. We were addressed by a panel of senior leaders who talked international business strategy and customer oriented market growth. It was truly refreshing in comparison to the surface level talks we've experienced at other sites.
Lunch was in a revolving restaurant at the top of the hotel. Next, I am off to a debrief on the trip with the rest of the class. I am in desperate need of a cup of coffee. Hope to see you soon : )
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