Bangkok Chiang Mai Hospital

Asia » Thailand
January 15th 2018

Published: January 16th 2018

Monday: January 15th

I woke up this morning knowing I was in for a very interesting day. Today we would see what a community hospital and a private hospital looked like in Thailand. Just a reminder that Nakornping hospital where I spent time last week, is a public and government-run hospital.

Donkeaw Health Center was our first destination of the day. Donkeaw is a community hospital that serves over 300 people in the Donkeaw district. We got the opportunity to meet the CEO of the health center who explained a little about it. Donkeaw is a non-medical, alternative medicine hospital. Most of the services that they offer are various types of Thai massages and herbal incense. The health center was originally funded by the Department of Public Health and they realized that with the small budget they were receiving, they would not be able to make a difference in their community. Donkeaw is a very poor district and they knew that these people would not be able to afford care. Apparently 80% of the public hospitals in Thailand are run by the Department of Health, while 20% are run by Ministry of the Interior. That 20% receives a much greater budget and each company has the opportunity to apply to be run by them. The CEO of Donkeaw Health Center continued applying to make this change and 10 years ago they accepted. Now with a much better budget, the CEO and staff surveyed the whole community, documenting who lived where and what their greatest health needs were. They provide care for everyone, and turn down no one. During the presentation, the CEO also mentioned how they train people within the community including mentally disabled people and offer them jobs with pay. They only staff two registered nurses and the rest are trained volunteers but the volunteers go out and do home visits as well. The hospital was absolutely beautiful and such a peaceful environment. It was really cool to see a non-profit hospital really involving itself and trying to include as well as better its community. At the health center I purchased an herb-filled compress and we then went to go see the workers make them. It was interesting to see them cut up and mix turmeric, salt, sugar, and a few other plants and then place the mix in cloth. This cloth was then tied up skillfully into the compress that I bought.

Around lunch time we left Donkeaw and headed nearby to a resort that had several cottages within its gate. It was BEAUTIFUL. This was definitely a different side of Thailand, one that catered to rich foreigners who were visiting or on vacation. Surrounded by orchids and the most beautiful flower arrangements I have ever seen, we walked through a short hallway and entered into an outdoor dining area that had a crystal blue pool and a small indoor exercise room. The pool had fountains that were later turned out and it took everything for us not to ditch our blue scrubs and jump in the pool.

We were told to look at the menu and decide what we wanted to eat. The very first meal was their famous Pad Thai. Now, every time I order Pad Thai subconsciously yell at myself for not trying something new, but I LOVE Pad Thai so this time was no different. I ordered the shrimp Pad Thai and waited patiently. I never regret my decision and when they brought out my dish (I was the last one), I couldn't wait to dig in. It was the best and most flavorful Pad Thai I have ever had. They even had chopped up peanuts on the side to mix in. I was last to receive my meal but it certainly did not take long for me to eat it. With the extra time that we had, we all lined up at the side of the pool and attempted to tan ourselves. Of course the President of BCNC (who joined us for lunch) started taking pictures because of the concept of tanning is foreign to the Thai people (they love pale skin).

Around 1 pm we headed to our final destination of the day: Bangkok Chiang Mai Hospital. When we walked through the front doors I was amazed. It was completely the opposite in appearance from Nakornping. It was arguably more beautiful than hospitals I have been to back home and its appearance reminded me of a grand hotel. We walked to a very large conference room where we were greeted by Chairat, the Head of International Medical Service Department. He started by welcoming us and telling us about himself. Apparently he grew up in Thailand and then moved to the United States where he joined the army. He served in our army for over 20 years and then decided to move back to Thailand. He worked as a labor and delivery nurse for 5 years and then because of his international experience, started working in the position he is currently in.

I am now going to take some time comparing Bangkok Chiang Mai from Nakornping as the differences are like light & day. Bangkok Chiang Mai Hospital was opened July 7th, 2014. Bangkok Hospital is slowly monopolizing Thailand in the private hospital industry with branches in all regions. Bangkok Hospital and its other various hospitals were started and funded by the richest man in Thailand. This particular hospital has 181 beds total, with 75 of them being inpatient. 33% of the patients are foreigners, the top nationalities being: American, Chinese, European, Japanese, and Myanmar. As for costs, to see a doctor would cost you 400-600 baht depending on what each individual doctor asks for. Inpatient services run around 23,000 baht. Keep in mind that at Nakornping everyone who comes in for health care pays 30 baht. So, the difference is $1 at Nakornping and $720 at Bangkok Chiang Mai not including insurance and other components. Nurses at Bangkok Chiang Mai work 8 hour shifts but most work 12 for the overtime pay and because they are short-staffed. The nurse to patient ratio is 1:5 except 1:2 in the ICU. I asked Chairat what the pay is like for the nurses and he told me that a newly graduated nurse will see around 15,000 baht/month and other nurses receiving 20,000-23,000/month. This blew my mind. My nurse Mint at Nakornping was getting paid 15,500 baht A YEAR. The difference is almost to crazy to imagine and so so sad.

It was then time for our tour of the hospital. The halls were painted white and there were lots of windows. The interior was beautiful and so bright. Each unit was pretty small so walking from one to the next required little effort. Their rehab center was really nice and they newly installed a hydrotherapy tub. We walked onto their hemodialysis unit which had 6 rooms. I forgot to tell you that unlike Nakornping this hospital has all private rooms and for an increase in price you can even choose a larger room. Chairat told us that the suite-sized private room has a kitchen and table, and the VIP room has another bedroom. Now that's just over-kill in my opinion. I regret not asking how many people have actually paid to use the VIP room. Back to the tour...we then walked onto the oncology unit where we saw one patient in the waiting room. My teacher asked how many patients they see a week and they said around 10-15. Following oncology we walked across to the internal medicine ward which is the busiest unit at this hospital. They see anywhere from 80-100 patients/day.

After another short walk, we arrived at pediatrics. They have two areas: a sick-child unit, and a well-child unit. One of the doctors greeted us and she told us that because of the weird weather they have been having they see a lot of patients in the early morning and at night. The unit closes from 8 pm till 7 am but there is always a pediatrician on-call overnight.

The final unit we visited was the ER. Now everyone knows how busy the ER is at anytime throughout the day, but this ER was different. When we walked in there was no one in the waiting room and we were told that the busiest time is at night. The place seemed dead. The ER has three ambulances and when one is called, a doctor and a nurse go in the ambulance to attend to the patient. We asked why this happens and they told us that it allows them to not have to hire and pay any more staff.

We thanked Chairat for showing us around. He even offered us to come back and work for him. Apparently American nurses typically don't do direct patient-care at this hospital, instead we would be a nurse coordinator and work closely with the administrative staff. Tempting proposition but not very likely 😊 While this hospital was beautiful, you can't have a hospital without patients. The place seemed almost completely empty with very few patients to attend to. It was a good experience to see the difference between public and private hospitals.

After a long day of touring, we headed back to BCNC around 3 pm.

There was another group of us who wanted to go running again so at 4:30 we decided to walk to the trail and run 3 miles again. Today was warmer than the day before but the sun felt good.

We had chicken with blue rice for dinner and a chicken broth soup with melon in it (looked and tasted like potatoes). My teacher told us we would be having class tonight where we would discuss our personality type (Myers & Briggs). Unfortunately, she got stuck at dinner late so I spent the night blogging and watching School of Rock with friends. Overall, the day was fun and super interesting. Tomorrow we would be doing three home visits within the Donkeaw district.

Bangkok Chiang Mai Hospital

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