Know Where Your Hospital is Located

After my husband coughed for a month straight, one day he had trouble breathing and finally listened to me about going to the hospital. I had to call a new expat friend for a nearby hospital, address, and phone number. I then had to call the hospital to make an appointment. He was a mess in the back seat of the cab. I had to navigate the taxi driver, mind you with little experience of taking taxis (I usually leave that to Denny because they are a headache, but I couldn’t opt for that option that fine winter afternoon). I gave the taxi driver the address and tried explaining Denny’s condition to him with a few short words: illness, hurry, hospital. I wondered what the man thought with my choice of words, but it worked; he got us to the hospital quicker than normal. It was God’s perfect timing when we made it to the hospital because at the point Denny’s shortness of breath got worse.

Note: The pictures weren't the best because I was sneaking them in trying to not distract them from working hard on curing Denny. Plus I was trying to be a good wifey by attending to him.

I gathered key-points for you (expats, travelers or inquisitive minds) on our experience at the hospital.

5 Attributes you can Experience at a Foreign Hospital:

1) Prepping Emergency Information

If you are an expat traveling nomadic style, chances are you don’t have a car. Before an emergency happens, have the address and phone number of your nearest international clinic. If your situation doesn’t call for an ambulance than have the address on hand for the taxi driver. There is no time for saving money by taking the bus.

2) The doctors caring

Denny’s doctor was very attentive to him through the whole process. She spent about 30 minutes asking him questions, taking his temperature, and basically everything a nurse would do in the States. She ordered Denny a blood test and x-ray on the spot. We got that whole process done within an hour.  (In the States is took me about an hour and a half to be seen to have my blood taken at a clinic.)

When Denny was hooked up to the IV and receiving antibiotics she checked on him several times. I have never seen a doctor so attentive.

3) Sanitation is another standard

The hospital was clean but not immaculate to the Mr. Clean standards of the west. There were no sanitation bottles placed every few doors. There was a good old fashion bar of soap in the bathroom.

My mind was blown away when the nurse took Denny’s blood. She didn’t use gloves. WOW!

 4) Equipment is Outdated

The hospitals equipment I noticed was a little older. (Notice the picture above is a Chinese call button; a button for patients to hit when  they want attention. The picture below show’s the doctor using an older style of a blood pressure gauge).

 5) Fashion police visiting

The nurses wear cute pink nurse uniforms that remind me of candy strippers in the United States back during the world wars. Any patient should feel better after seeing so much pink, right?

The whole process cost us about $100 with no medical insurance. That was our experience. What was yours in China?

If you are living in Qingdao, China I recommend going to this hospital.