Doctors, not debt collectors

Nice guys finish last. Doctor Wu Li is excellent evidence of this.

As a neurosurgeon at a private hospital in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, 58-year-old Wu fulfilled the Hippocratic Oath that requires doctors to put their patients' lives and health first.

Wu has helped more than 100 patients who couldn't afford their medical fee by paying the fees in advance for them. He set himself up as their guarantor, therefore reducing the possibility that the hospital might suspend treatment if the patients were unable to pay.

"For patients in a critical condition, suspending treatment might put their lives at risk. As a doctor, I cannot leave them to fend for themselves," Wu, told the Global Times.

Routinely, Wu would sign a contract with the hospital, promising he would shoulder the responsibility of getting the patient to pay back their medicine fees in time.

He was fully aware the medical fees would be for him to pay if he couldn't get the patients to fork up but he insisted on helping them.

During the campaign that called on educated youth to go to the mountainous areas and rural areas in the 1960-70s, Wu was the only one recommended by local villagers to return to medical school, a journey that eventually led him to become a doctor. "I appreciated what they did for me," Wu said.

To his great comfort, almost all patients comply and pay back the money they owed before or shortly after leaving hospital. That is until recently when a migrant worker named Chen Yafei from Sichuan landed Wu in hot water.

Chen, who was sent to hospital after a car accident in April, vanished from hospital one afternoon without paying his fees.

"Around 10,000 yuan ($1,608) was sent by the driver in the car accident but this was used up in three days. However, the patient was in a serious condition. I decided to help him and he promised he would settle his bill," Wu said.

However, Chen fled, leaving Wu with a medical bill of 11,300 yuan and a letter of apology.

Not isolated case

Wu is not alone in this situation. A majority of public hospitals in China have set up "medical green channels" that require hospitals to treat all emergencies before charging patients for any medical fees.

The common method of accepting treatment first and paying the bill afterwards has resulted in a large number of patients seeking loopholes and dodging their hospital bills. This has caused severe arrears in public hospitals all across the country.

Official statistics showed that these unpaid bills amounted to up to 10 billion yuan in 2009, and rising every year.

The hospital decided Wu should be responsible for settling Chen's bill.

"We usually won't ask doctors to pay for the medical arrears as the hospital would cover it. However, Wu didn't get the consent of the hospital's leader before he provided a guarantee for the patient this time, which violated the rules," the director of the hospital, named Chen, told the Global Times.

Wu agreed with the punishment, saying that time had been short and that he had therefore treated Chen without reporting the case up the ladder.