Alive: The Plight Of The Survival Of Township Hospitals

As the key position of the three level of countryside prevention healthcare networks , the township hospital once has played vital role in the rural health enterprise of China. However, because the disintegration of collective economy, the declination of tradition cooperative medical system, the insufficiency of township level finance investment and so on many reasons, the township hospital's survival has had the universal crisis. Presently, as to the research of township hospital, there are lots of large-scale positive investigation through the aspect of sociology and political science. Still there are little concrete minute case study from anthropology aspect, and lack of deep description to the specific survival situation of township hospital too. In order to make up this kind of flaw, this article selects Guzhen township hospital as a typical case and conducts a deep research from the discipline angle of anthropology.As an ethnography that takes studies about the current situation of township hospital's survival, this article carries on a full and accurate description and analysis to the current survival condition of Guzhen township hospital according to the first materials which be collected in the fieldwork. The full article is focus on two problems closely: First, the internal operation and management of township hospital; Second, the relationship between the township hospital and external word. To the first problem, the article startes with a description of Guzhen township hospital's routine work scene, and then gradually introduces its internal representative personage and the concrete management way thoroughly. To the second problem, in order to reveal the concrete effects that made by central government ,local government and patient to the township hospital, the article takes a thick description about the oral material of key informant and typical event.Besides the participant observation and deep interview, the article uses the method of life histories and literature analysis as well. This article hopes to display a overall picture of the township hospital that strives in the straits. This picture is rather scientific and objective than the trying of making a text of an ethnography by the author.