A new "VIP" registering service is being offered by the Tianjin Children's Hospital in collaboration with a private health care company. "VIP" card holders can be exempted from queuing up when they register at the hospital.
This move has sparked heated debate among the public. The pro side argues that commercializing registration helps to shorten patients wait time, and makes it easier for citizens to seek treatment.(www.hxen.com)
Conversely, the con side argues that the "VIP" feature is, in fact, simply a tool employed by the opportunistic company to sell fraudulant cards, complicating an already convoluted healthcare service system.
The Beijing-based Workers Daily has published a commentary, arguing that this joint effort between a public hospital and a privately-run company to provide major caring service to the rich, has actually deprived ordinary people of their rights to have equal access to the healthcare service.
According to the logic, the paper points out, "VIP" service should also be introduced to the transportation system to set aside a special road for the "VIP" card holders; the railway station should also adopt the "VIP" service to allow the rich to get rid of lining up while buying railway tickets. In this way, the public resource will concentrate on the rich which account for only a small number, resulting in the commercialization of the public resource and the loss of its public attribute.
