Chapter 10

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"Is this really a hospital?"

On the afternoon of October 15, 1842, which was the thirtieth day since Zhu Jishi arrived in this era, with the help of Isabella, he finally got an interview opportunity. However, the person accompanying him to the "Omen Hospital," a "charity hospital" located in the industrial district of London, was Lady Durand, Isabella's sister (it was impossible to expect the noble and beautiful countess to personally go to such a smelly and dirty place in the London industrial district, where the air was filled with various pathogenic bacteria). She told the somewhat anxious Zhu Jishi:

"Don't worry, the interview is just a formality. Isabella has already spoken to Mr. Omen, the boss here."

Although she still had some disdain for Zhu Jishi, the "Tartar," Lady Durand maintained a charming smile and very detailedly informed Zhu Jishi about the situation at Omen Hospital. This Omen Hospital was a so-called "charity hospital," funded by several textile mill owners, one of whom, Peter Omen, contributed the most, hence the hospital's name.

Additionally, Lady Durand told Zhu Jishi that these "charity hospitals" run by capitalists or the church did not charge for medical services. The hospital's operating funds mostly came from donations, and sometimes from selling medicine to supplement the budget. The patients they served were not people like her and Isabella from the upper-middle class, but the poorest of the poor, who indeed had no ability to pay for medical services.

The upper-middle class, who could afford medical fees, generally invited skilled physicians to their homes or visited well-serviced private clinics. They rarely went to charity hospitals that provided free medical services to the poor, as the conditions there were truly terrible...

Although he had some mental preparation, when Zhu Jishi saw the dilapidated large house built between two factories that constantly emitted foul odors (they seemed to be dyeing factories), it was hard for him to associate it with a hospital.

The main color of the house was gray, looking just like the sky in the London industrial district, as if it had not been cleaned—later, Zhu Jishi learned that when the hospital was first built, the exterior walls were actually white... Most of the glass in the windows was broken, and they were barely covered with cardboard. Lady Durand told him that the glass windows were smashed during the riots in the London industrial district in September. Incidents of labor unrest were very common in 19th-century Europe.

"Follow me." Lady Durand gave Zhu Jishi a charming smile and then took out a handkerchief to cover her nose. To be honest, the smell here was really unbearable. If you sniffed carefully, you could distinguish the smell of mold, sourness, feces, and the toxic industrial exhaust from the surrounding factories! It made Zhu Jishi feel dizzy and disoriented. With his medical knowledge, this hospital was nothing but a petri dish for viruses and bacteria!

Zhu Jishi almost saw various deadly bacteria like tuberculosis, cholera, plague, typhus, smallpox, and yellow fever growing happily here.

"Tartar? Good heavens, it's really a Tartar!" The hospital's director, Frank Hahn, a rude, bulky man with a face full of muscles, scrutinized Zhu Jishi for a while, as if he were looking at a gorilla in a zoo, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Great, wonderful! Finally, we have a doctor who can stay in this hellhole for a while. Hey, Tartar, I heard you're a surgeon?"

"Yes, I am a surgeon." Zhu Jishi admitted with a stiff face.

"Excellent, can you deliver babies?" After receiving an affirmative answer, Hahn took the medical license from Zhu Jishi's hand and examined it, "Wow, you're licensed! That's fantastic, we now have two licensed doctors at Omen Hospital. By the way, Tartar, what's your name?"

"Jason Zhu." Zhu Jishi took back his medical license.

"Jason... Zhu? Zhu is your last name?"

"Yes, you can just call me Jason."

"Alright, Jason, I'm glad you're here. I'm Frank Hahn, the director here, just call me Frank." He wiped his greasy hand on a bloodstained and oily gray coat (originally white) and then firmly shook Zhu Jishi's right hand.

...

About half an hour after their first meeting, Frank Hahn had already taken Zhu Jishi on a tour of the hospital, which emitted a terrible odor, and introduced him to all the doctors and nurses—there weren't many in total. The hospital's sponsor, Mr. Omen, should actually be called "Miser" Mr. Omen, as the hospital's monthly budget was less than 200 pounds. Frank Hahn was the hospital's "contractor," and including Zhu Jishi, he employed five doctors, one midwife, and one pharmacist. However, only Zhu Jishi had a proper medical license; the other four doctors were unlicensed. The only pharmacist, Frank Hahn's wife, Mary Hahn, was also unlicensed. The midwife, Janet Lee, was also unlicensed—there was no such thing as a midwife certification in this era. However, their salaries were not less than Zhu Jishi's, all earning 3 pounds per week.

There were also six female nurses, all from noble or bourgeois families, who were not hired but volunteers, coming to this smelly hospital to care for patients out of kindness or faith in God. However, these nurses had no nursing experience and did not even know the basics of disinfection—Zhu Jishi saw one of the small, cute nurses using a dirty, bloodstained cloth to clean a pair of forceps and several scissors.

As for the drugs provided by this charity hospital, they were not free. This was the main source of income for Director Frank Hahn. However, the quantity and variety of drugs were still limited, and most were ineffective, such as a syrup said to treat tuberculosis! According to the "Universal Pharmacopoeia" that Zhu Jishi had purchased, this syrup could alleviate the pain of tuberculosis, but it was actually just a mixture of opium paste—opium was a panacea in Europe at the time, and large chunks of opium paste could be found in all pharmacies and hospitals. Moreover, more than half of Western medicines contained opium! Additionally, Western medicine production had not yet been industrialized, and many pharmacies and hospitals produced and sold their own medicines without any regulation, so everyone was willing to add opium, a "highly effective" universal medicine, to their formulations.

Besides the "miracle drugs" containing opium, there were many drugs made from plant alkaloids, such as emetine, quinine (for malaria), cinchonine (also from the cinchona plant), and atropine, most of which were toxic and could easily cause death if used improperly. However, there were also good things, such as berberine, the famous coptisine! However, it was not the more effective berberine hydrochloride, so there were no injectable forms.

The hospital also had many drugs that were both amusing and ridiculous, such as ketchup! It was said to treat over thirty diseases, and one could only imagine what a穿越者 (time traveler) who had not studied medicine would think if they were given ketchup as medicine. White water with a little sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid was also considered a miraculous drug, capable of treating thirty-one diseases. Additionally, petroleum was a "universal cure"... Were these European doctors treating patients like Transformers?

"Jason, what do you think of this hospital?" After showing Zhu Jishi around the hospital, Frank Hahn, with a pipe in his mouth, asked Zhu Jishi with a smile.

"A bit dirty." Zhu Jishi gave a rather unflattering opinion.

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