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Development of Medical Management Talents

After he took over the position as the superintendent of Mackay Memorial Hospital, Dr. Noordhooff knew that he could not tackle the problems alone. He was determined to find a professional with business management expertise to assist him. At the end of 1960, he found Ching-wen Chang, who just graduated from College of Management, National Taiwan University, via the recommendation of Presbyterian Church. Since then, Ching-wen Chang had become Dr. Noordhooff’s best partner.

At that juncture, Mackay Memorial Hospital had never hired a university graduate. The highest salary band was offered to vocational school graduates. Ching-wen Chang received the salary of the same band, i.e. NT$600 per month. He later found out that the Board was not willing to pay for his NT$600 per month. It was paid out from Dr. Noordhooff’s personal pocket. Ching-wen Chang’s title was Secretary to Superintendent.

Dr. Noordhooff told Chang of his ideal. He hoped that one day, Mackay Memorial Hospital should have a medical manager to serve as the superintendent, just like the US hospitals. He planned to ask the Board to send Chang to study overseas in order to take the role as the superintendent. In his career, Ching-wen Chang assisted the planning of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chi Mei Medical Center, Shin Kong Memorial Hospital, National Cheng Kung University Hospital and Mennonite Christian Hospital. He said, he owes all his achievements in medical management to Dr. Noordhooff. He would not have achieved so much without Dr. Noordhooff.

Reforming the Hospital

Dr. Noordhooff was afraid of showing foreigners who donated money to the kitchen of the hospital. Who could remain confident in a hospital where rats ran around in the kitchen? People were poor at that time so employees sometimes took the kitchen ingredients from the hospital to home. Ching-wen Chang moved his bed to the kitchen to keep an eye. Given that the kitchen was consistently in losses, something must be wrong with procurement. He jotted down the menu and checked the prices in the market at 5am. He found that the vendors sold to Mackay at double the price. He then called in these vendors and asked them to lower prices immediately; otherwise, he would simply switch to different vendors.

After the kitchen turned losses into profits, the hospital decided to renovate the worn-out place. The result was the first modern building of Mackay Memorial Hospital. The accounts were messy. Sometimes the staff simply skipped details if they could not understand the prescriptions or surgery records. Doctors were called in to perform appendectomy in the middle of the night and did not bother to write reports since they headed back home immediately after. Of course, the patient did not get the bill either. All these things resulted in huge losses to the treasury of the hospital. Every evenings after hours, Dr. Noordhooff and Ching-wen Chang often got together to discuss various reforms for Mackay Memorial Hospital.

Honest and Strict Superintendent

Dr. Noordhooff said that only the superintendent has the right to hire personnel and he would not recruit any relative of any director on the Board. He believed that recruitment should be based on qualifications and capabilities, rather than connections. However, this decision became a catalyst to his disagreement with some board members. Some people disliked his dominance and hoped he could resign soon.

Dr. Noordhooff was overloaded with work. He performed over a dozen surgeries each day and went to the emergency room in the middle of the night. Work related fatigue combined with personnel troubles made him sick. The doctors in Mackay Memorial Hospital could not identify the cause. The superintendent of Changhua Christian Hospital, Dr. David Landsborough from the UK, came to see him and diagnosed it was Eythema Nodosum. Dr. Landsborough believed that it was caused by stress. All that Dr. Noordhooff needed to do was to take medicine and rest. Interestingly, over 30 years later, both doctors received Medical Dedication Award from the Department of Health, Executive Yuan. They both dedicated the best years of their life on this island.

 

References :
Yu-fang Liang(2000).《Love, To Mend the Imperfectness: Dr. Noordhooff’s Forty Years in Taiwan》.Taipei City:Common Wealth .
Good TV(2004).《The Power of Giving》。Taipei County:Future Publishing.
Image Sources :
Yu-fang Liang(2000).《Love, To Mend the Imperfectness: Dr. Noordhooff’s Forty Years in Taiwan》.Taipei City:Common Wealth .
Changhua Christian Hospital http://www2.cch.org.tw/history/story6.htm#(2)