As soon as the middle of October passed, the weather in New York changed from hot to cool.

In two months, New York, with its humid temperate continental climate, will usher in its winter, when the snow will come.

However, human beings have modern technology, and with the help of modern technology, the scorching heat and cold winter no longer pose any threat to a part of human beings who have a large number of resources.

In the warm Smith Building conference room, Alan Berg was presiding over the daily meeting of the think tank, and it was close to noon, and the meeting was about to end, and the mobile phone placed at the conference table was buzzing.

After glancing at it, Alan reached out and pressed down to signal everyone to be quiet, and then picked up the phone.

"Good morning, boss—"

As soon as they heard that it was the boss's call, everyone in the conference room couldn't help but light up their eyes and straightened up slightly. I have to say that with Abel's success step by step, in today's United States, it is almost "ascending to God".

His subordinates and employees have more and more respect and worship for him. This is the reality, people always worship the strong and are willing to cling to the strong.

"Huh? Boss, do you want to buy a hospital locally? ”

When Alan heard Abel's new plan on the phone, he couldn't help frowning slightly, and while repeating Abel's new request to his subordinates, he stretched out his hand and pointed at his subordinates, asking them to immediately find out the information about the American hospital.

In the conference room, there were immediately three people crackling on the keyboard in the laptop in front of him, and it didn't take more than ten seconds to get up and hold the laptop, run to Allen's side, and put the notebook in front of Allen.

"Boss, according to our database, the American Hospital Association's updated 2002 annual hospital survey report shows that there are currently 5,055 hospitals in the United States. Among them, community hospitals account for the majority, accounting for 84%, and the rest are non-federal psychiatric hospitals, federal hospitals, and other types of hospitals. ”

"Among these hospitals, private non-profit hospitals have the most (2,904), followed by private for-profit hospitals (1,013) and the remaining public hospitals owned by state and local governments (1,085)."

"Other types of hospitals are non-community hospitals, including federal hospitals, non-federal psychiatric hospitals, non-federal long-term care homes, and so on."

"As you can see from the data, the number of private for-profit hospitals is almost three times that of private for-profit hospitals and public hospitals, respectively. Public hospitals are federal, state, or local government-owned hospitals that receive funding from the government to cover the hospital's operating costs. ”

"Private for-profit community hospitals, as the name suggests, are investor-owned hospitals, and the largest private hospital chain in the United States is HCA Holdings, Inc., which owns a total of 163 hospitals and 110 surgical centers in the United States and the United Kingdom, and its purpose is to bring maximum economic benefits to investors. It currently has a market capitalization of about $38.5 billion. ”

"Our database data shows that hospitals account for 32 percent of the total medical expenses in the United States, making them the largest spenders, with an average hospitalization cost of $18,000, and the hospital industry is the largest industry in the United States. However, it is also the main culprit that many people say is pushing up the cost of medical care in the United States......"

Alan was concise, picked out some important information in the database, and reported to the boss clearly and quickly.

The chief thinker didn't know why the boss suddenly wanted to buy the hospital.

Abel has always invested heavily in medical care.

First, two medical research laboratories, Adam and Eve, were established one after another.

Not to mention that before that, he had been donating to those famous hospitals, and he was the first big brother in the top five famous hospitals in the United States.

The annual investment of hundreds of millions of dollars makes it easier for him, his family, and even his subordinates and employees to seek medical treatment in these hospitals.

In his hometown of Tarrant, there is a Smith Church Hospital, which has a great reputation in the local area.

But now, Allen feels that the boss wants to buy a large hospital chain and then run it himself is right.

He felt that instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to donate, the boss should spend more money to take these hospitals down.

Because of the hospital groups, they are extremely important in the American medical complex system, and they are very profitable.

Not to mention that with their own hospital system, Adam and Eve's medical research laboratories can also get more samples and clinical data, and they will not lose money in all aspects.

"I want to buy a profitable hospital, preferably a large chain, but if it doesn't work, I'll just merge it. The virus that raged in the big eastern country last year sounded the alarm bell for me, in the future, there will be more and more similar highly contagious diseases, we can't every time we encounter this sudden virus, we can only hide, we must take the initiative, and more importantly, we can have our own hospital to escort our health. ”

On the phone, Abel's low, magnetic voice came, making Allen, who had turned on the speakerphone, and everyone present understand the reason and purpose of his acquisition of the hospital.

Hearing that the boss chose a for-profit hospital, everyone present nodded silently, as if it should be so, you must know that for-profit hospitals have a name called "investor-owned hospitals".

Investors invest in hospitals, just like investing in other fields, in order to make money, and the money earned goes to the investors.

As for the name of the non-profit private hospital, it sounds like it is for the free service of Americans, but in fact, it is still for the purpose of making money, but its investment comes from social donations, and the profits do not go to investors.

In the United States, seven of the top 10 hospitals that make money are nonprofits. Because the U.S. hospital industry is a powerful interest group in the U.S. with strong lobbying power, it has been able to successfully dismantle various policy efforts to control hospital costs.

These hospitals are profiting by using expensive and profitable medical equipment, increasing the use of consumables, and setting up luxury wards by using expensive and costly medical equipment.

Some hospitals in the U.S. charge patients up to 10 times more than the actual cost of treatment.

Like Stanford University Hospital, the annual income of a hospital bed is equivalent to RMB, which is so much cool!

In addition to maintaining the operation of the hospital, most of the huge profits are divided by the interest groups that manage and control the hospital, and the annual salary of the director of the non-profit hospital is generally more than one million US dollars, and some are even as high as more than 7 million.

In the United States, a successful hospital, even the most honest one, carefully selects lucrative patients and services as the key to success, and meeting the needs of society often threatens the hospital's profits, which also leads to for-profit hospitals in the United States providing only the most profitable cardiac and orthopedic care, and this phenomenon is flourishing all over the United States.

Although your boss has the best private doctor and can enjoy the best medical resources, it is definitely safer and more worry-free than using someone else's.

"Boss, wait a minute, I'm already asking people to check if there is a suitable acquisition target."

Alan told Abel to stall for time while motioning for his men to hurry up and find information, and it wasn't long before someone put another laptop in front of him.

I have to say that there are really many hospitals that are facing bankruptcy or have gone bankrupt.

And for good reason. Don't think that the medical costs in the United States are high, all hospitals can make money, in fact, in the United States, due to the huge amount of hospital advances, the hospital advance payment is not guaranteed to recover the cost, there are problems with capital turnover, and many hospitals will close down every year.

A strong industry is very profitable, but it does not mean that all members of the entire industry can make money.

Small, medium, and large hospitals in cities and neighborhoods across the United States are closing or facing difficulties and are likely to be acquired.

"Boss, have found some suitable ones. Now hospitals are facing more and more pressure to lose money, and many hospitals can't handle it. For example, in the upper part of Manhattan, New York City, an 80-year-old Williams Hospital has filed for bankruptcy and reorganization, and if no one takes over, it is likely to close in the first half of next year, and many hospitals are not having a good time. “

In the U.S., both emergency and hospitalization are service-first-charged. U.S. law requires hospitals to provide patients with the emergency care they need, regardless of their immigration status or whether they have money. In any case, once you enter the emergency room, a set of tests will be done, and emergency doctors in the United States sometimes treat minor illnesses as major ones for fear of excessive medical litigation, which leads to high medical expenses.

And if the patient does not have health insurance and is illegal, the result is that the hospital has to pay all the expenses in advance, so that the cost cannot be recovered.

Don't think that the hospital is complying with the law and medical ethics in doing this, in fact, the hospital itself is to blame.

For example, if someone is in a coma with anemia on the side of the road, it is not a big problem, and it may be good to take a little sugar. But if someone is "kind" enough to call the emergency number, the ambulance will come and pull it to the hospital for a check-up, and finally hang up the physiological sugar water to get it.

But the cost of the entire treatment is as high as thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars...... What could have been done for a few hundred dollars has become so expensive.

Can the patient be blamed for this? So much so that authentic native Americans have developed the habit of never taking an ambulance until they reach a dead end.

Let's talk about a real case, in 2000, a middle-aged lady named Charlotte in New York was accidentally bitten on her finger when she was feeding a stray cat in the park!

Charlotte went to the hospital for rabies vaccination and immunoglobulin as soon as possible, and the hospital sent the bill to Charlotte's home the next day - as mentioned earlier, there is a law that in the United States, you don't need to pay for treatment, and when you return home after seeing the doctor, the hospital will send the bill to your home the next day, and then pay the bill!

Of course, you can also not pay fees, then it is not only the hospital that can make money on you.

There will also be lawyers......

After receiving the bill, Ms. Charlotte was completely dumbfounded when she opened the bill, because the hospital gave $48,512, which was nearly $50,000!

Hospitals do this, and it is inevitable that some low-level people who do not have good medical insurance, or even do not buy medical insurance at all, will default on their debts.

Poverty is a terminal disease, the most intractable disease.

Although some low-income people can apply for government insurance, the insurance paid by the government is limited, and the hospital can only pay for the money that cannot be approved.

Also, not all applications will be approved. For example, the hospital says that it will spend 2 million on medical treatment, but the government in the United States may only give 1.5 million, and the remaining 500,000 hospitals will have to pay for themselves.

Therefore, some hospitals have a lot of bad debts and bad debts, and they can only go bankrupt and close down.

In the United States, even a white house can choose to go bankrupt and shut down. With the exception of the Federal Reserve, it can be said that anyone can go bankrupt, and hospitals are no exception.

"Then go and get in touch with them and buy this hospital. Well...... With a history of 80 years, it is still in Shangcheng District, and it is estimated that the land is worth a lot of money. ”

Alan waited for the boss to finish speaking, and then put himself in the perspective of the chief thinker and suggested to his boss: "As you wish, boss, I'll have someone contact them now." ”

"But I have a few words to say. Boss, investing in hospitals, there are a lot of drawbacks and risks, the first is that the hospital has only one way to do, and it cannot be transformed. Second, the hospital is a long-term project, and the usual payback period is six to ten years or more, and the return on investment is long. Third, it is often difficult for hospitals to go public, they can only rely on annual dividends, and even if they do, they cannot obtain high profits. The fourth is the high cost of labor, especially the cost of hiring a good doctor, and the profit will be greatly reduced. ”

That's why doctors are a high-income group in the U.S., along with lawyers.

"Well, I know that. Let's contact them first, and other hospitals can also contact them later. I want something like HCA, you know? ”

"Understood."

"That's for now, I'm still in the hospital. Come back to the Smith Building later and give me a detailed plan. ”

"No problem."

"Toot-toot-toot"

There was a sound of hanging up the phone from the phone, and after confirming that the boss had hung up, Alan put down the phone.

He looked at the people in the Smith Intelligence Group and said directly: "Although I don't know why our boss is suddenly interested in the hospital. But you've heard the call, so let's get started, guys, we have new things to do! ”

Everyone nodded yes, and the division of labor began their work clearly.

This is the daily life in the Smith Intelligence.

(End of chapter)