Surgery Godfather
Chapter 1286 - 980: The Latest Entertainment Project

Chapter 1286: Chapter 980: The Latest Entertainment Project

Ou Lianfeng left the hospital in high spirits. The local county had sent a business car to pick him up, and accompanying him were local publicity staff, who continued to follow and promote his story positively.

Before his discharge, Ou Lianfeng repeatedly thanked Yang Ping and Sanbo Hospital for their help. He presented a pennant and a lot of fruits, and wrote a heartfelt letter of thanks. He wasn’t well-educated and didn’t know how to express himself eloquently, but he understood in his heart that without Professor Yang and Sanbo Hospital, he wouldn’t have had a new lease on life today, not only receiving new lungs but also compensation and various kinds of care.

Although Ou Lianfeng had received new lungs and regained healthy lung function, rejection was always a possibility since the lungs came from another person. Therefore, he would need to take immunosuppressants for the rest of his life to avoid post-operative rejection. Immunosuppressants suppress the immune system to combat rejection. But as a result, patients’ resistance to various pathogens is weakened, and they are much more likely to develop infections, tumors, and other diseases compared to healthy people. It’s an inevitable trade-off in medicine, where many decisions are made by weighing the pros and cons.

Effort pays off for those who persevere. With Yang Ping’s consent, Manager Mo persuaded her company’s executives to install three surgical robots in Sanbo Hospital—at once, one in the animal laboratory for training, two in the Surgical Research Institute, one for training and the other for surgery. When other companies heard about this, they were impressed by her audacity, simultaneously regretting their own hasty departures. They felt they should have stayed a few more days like Manager Mo, recognizing that not only was this woman beautiful, but she also had a knack for business.

Manager Mo’s strategy was rather straightforward. Since the company’s surgical robots were not selling and would just gather dust in the warehouse, it made sense to put them to some use. Sometimes women make more ruthless decisions than men; after installing three robots, Manager Mo asked if they would like a few more installed, practically planning to fulfill the entire year’s market targets for Sanbo Hospital free of charge.

If it weren’t for the reluctance of Manager Mo’s superior, the regional manager of South China, who felt it was too painful a sacrifice and urgently hit the brakes, followed by headquarters scrapping Manager Mo’s bold plan, she would have been prepared to send even more units. Whether a few more or fewer—they were all meant to be gifted. Why not be generous and make an impact on a larger scale?

After all, the company was in this state; while the machines were good, and the technology had advantages—especially the tactile feedback technology which was unmatched—the market often doesn’t recognize the best technology. So far, the company hadn’t sold a single robot.

Now Manager Mo simply stayed put, making herself a familiar face at Sanbo Hospital every day. As doctors trained to operate the surgical robots, she would be on hand to serve, ready to communicate at any moment. This not only helped her build rapport with the doctors at Sanbo Hospital but also allowed her to gather feedback on the robots during their use. Without any achievements in the company for so long, Manager Mo decided to bet it all on Sanbo Hospital, thinking that once the doctors were trained, they might all favor robot-assisted surgeries and potentially place an order for several more robots.

There was an even more important point: considering Professor Yang’s high status in the medical community, if he found the robot to his liking and praised it publicly, her company’s surgical robot would instantly be in the limelight.

Moreover, with the robots in Professor Yang’s hands, if he ended up performing any world-first surgeries with them, the robot brand would gain recognition too. At least the company could publicize that certain world-first surgeries were completed by their brand of surgical robot, accumulating a record of surgeries.

Everyone in the medical business circle knew the story of President Huang of Ruixing. The legend goes that Huang Jiacai clung to Sanbo Hospital and leveraged his association with Professor Yang to rise from a simple salesperson to the head of his company. Now, as Mo Yeqing stood by Sanbo Hospital and the Surgical Research Institute, gripping onto the other leg of Professor Yang, she hoped to achieve some business milestones as well. As the old saying goes, no one strikes a smiling face that reaches out. She didn’t come every day to cause trouble, but to provide good service for the surgical robots; surely, no one would turn her away.

After Manager Mo decided to go for broke, she simply rented an apartment near the hospital to keep an eye on those few robots. Her supervisor agreed to her plan since the company was already burning through cash without having sold a single robot. Without causing some commotion, it was estimated no one would be willing to invest. Robotic surgery might be a hot topic, but it’s perceived as a passing trend; once the wind blows over, there’s nothing left but feathers on the ground.

The market for surgical robots is only so big, and because of their size, market growth is quite slow. The top brands have a significant first-mover advantage, and everyone prefers to buy from established brands rather than taking risks with new ones as guinea pigs. Thus, adopting a free strategy to open up the market and accumulate successful cases is essential for market development. Without sales and successful cases, the company is trapped in a vicious cycle.

The only way to break this vicious cycle was just like now: to give away a few robots, let these robots make a difference, accumulate cases, and showcase the technological superiority.

After the machines were installed, Yang Ping wanted to see how enthusiastic everyone was about the training. It turned out that right after finishing surgeries, many doctors rushed over without even having eaten, eager to secure a slot to train with the surgical robots. All the robots were occupied, with doctors who were training seriously and those eating their boxed meals while waiting in line, each taking their turn for a half-hour training session.

The surgical robots really became toys for the doctors at the Surgical Research Institute. Whenever there was time, they would come and play. By doing so, their surgical skills were inadvertently improving.

Since Song Zimo and Xu Zhiliang already knew how to perform robot-assisted surgeries, they became instructors for everyone else, teaching them some basic operational skills.

Xia Shu increasingly felt that his initial decision was the right one. Deciding firmly to resign from Beijing and join Sanbo Hospital, though his time here wasn’t long, he was already able to be the chief surgeon in coronary bypass surgeries. The training model here was conducive to growth: start by getting familiar with the theory, then train extensively with experimental pigs, follow Professor Yang in surgeries, and finally, get to be the chief surgeon. Moreover, once able to lead surgeries, the number of cases accrued and the surgical experience both grew exponentially.

Now, to be able to train with surgical robots as if playing a game was something Xia Shu had never dared to imagine before. In the past, the most he could do was to help with loading and unloading surgical instruments; operating the robots was out of the question. Such expensive equipment was only for a select few chiefs to handle.

Doctor Li Min was a visiting scholar who had never seen such a gadget in the town hospitals he used to work at. When it was his turn, his hands trembled, and he hesitated for a long time before daring to operate the machine. After all, playing with equipment worth millions was not easy, and he couldn’t get over the invisible threshold in his mind.

Many other young doctors repeatedly confirmed that they wouldn’t have to compensate for damages before daring to operate the robots. Without clear responsibility, these young doctors were truly afraid to start, as messing up and needing a repair might bankrupt them financially.

To improve the training effect, everyone put their heads together and developed various training methods. Peeling grapes, suturing grape skins—these were just the basics. They came up with a variety of training projects such as folding paper airplanes, drawing cartoon characters, writing Chinese characters, threading beads, and embroidering.