Remembrance of Shi Yingkang 4: The impassion of stepping down

Because of the old age, Shi Yingkang, who has been fierce for decades, had to accept the law of replacement of the old and the new.

After more than 20 storms and autumns in the land of West China Hospital, which is small and small, and said big and big, he finally bumped into the scene described in the opening volume of this book: On January 21, 2013, Shi Yingkang and Zheng Shangwei stepped down, Li Weimin and Jingjing took over, and several hands shook hands, and the top management of West China Hospital changed hands again.

On this day, Shi Yingkang, whose sideburns were covered with frost, stood on the podium to bid farewell to his "comrades-in-arms."

According to the tradition of Chinese officialdom, whenever this time, even the most powerful manager in normal times, the language will be particularly warm, smile to thank like-minded people, sincerely apologize to colleagues who have intentionally or unintentionally incriminate, evaluate the extraordinary wisdom of the successor with a very appreciative eye, and finally do not forget to look forward to the brilliant prospects of the institution... However, Shi Yingkang did not play his cards according to the routine, perhaps he did not want to put a cheesy ending on the road full of innovation.

His farewell speech addressed two themes: looking back at the days we had traveled together; urging West China Hospital to continue to innovate. The style is as old as ever, and the speech is unscripted. As he reminisces about the past, he recounts the challenges he faces with his colleagues like a family treasure, reliving each other's colorful but unique dreams. In fact, it was this group of people who rushed all the way to their dreams that enabled West China Hospital to realize the vision that Shi Yingkang and Zheng Shangwei had depicted at the beginning of their tenures — from the basin to the ocean.

After saying this, the conversation turned sharply and began to talk about "inheritance" and "innovation".

Surprisingly, as the leader of the revitalization of West China Hospital, he did not exaggerate the value of "inheritance" in a strong way, but instead clearly emphasized "innovation". He still warned the middle and senior managers of the hospital in the tone of the president: "Of course, inheritance is important, but we must dare to take responsibility, otherwise we dare not innovate; only by having the courage to innovate, the road ahead will be more brilliant." Shi Yingkang, who has led the reform and innovation of West China Hospital for 20 years, vividly turned the farewell speech into a training course for middle and senior managers of the hospital.

"It's inertia after an effort." Liao Zhilin not only participated in the handover ceremony on this day, but also attended a small farewell forum organized by the middle and senior management in the hospital later, "The content of his two speeches is almost the same, there are almost no polite words, mainly talking about the future of West China Hospital." ”

However, many West China Hospital employees, including Liao Zhilin, especially those who followed Shi Yingkang through a decade or two of storms, had a not-so-extravagant wish at that time: to hear Shi Yingkang say thank you for his dedication. The result was a little disappointing to them, and the atmosphere that should have been tear-jerking was adjusted by Shi Yingkang to the scene of "passionately rushing forward".

"This is his realm." Liao Zhilin understands Shi Yingkang, "He always takes the promotion of domestic medicine development as the highest standard. ”

When Shi Yingkang gave his farewell speech, he was as hesitant and ambitious as in the past. The picture shows Shi Yingkang (second from right) and Zheng Shangwei (first from left) accompanying former Vice Minister of Health Peng Yu (center) on a visit to West China Hospital in 2007.

Relatively speaking, Zheng Shangwei's farewell words were very emotional, and the listener also found a little relief. 20 years ago, Shi Yingkang proposed himself as the president of West China Hospital, and before the chair could sit down, he proposed to "make Zheng Shangwei the secretary of the party committee", on the grounds that their personalities and styles complemented each other's personalities and styles. Perhaps it is providence, they have tacitly cooperated for 20 years, until the moment of leaving office is still "complementary".

Shi Yingkang's farewell stirred up passion, even so, when he finished speaking and slowly stepped off the podium, this influential figure who created a rare record for the tenure of presidents of domestic hospitals soberly realized that if he stayed together again, there would be a difference in the end, and at this time it was really time to bid farewell to the West China Hospital, although there was still his three-foot office desk in the hospital, but his president's title should be added with a "front" word from then on.

Seeing Shi Yingkang step down, Li Youping remembered a memory rooted in his heart.

One day in 1996, Li Youping, who had just returned to China, asked Shi Yingkang curiously: "Which is more worthwhile than your younger siblings?" What she means is that in the early 1990s, Shi Yingkang and his younger siblings went to the United States to study, and eventually his brother and sister chose to settle overseas and only he returned to China, And Li Youping wanted to know how he felt. At that time, Shi Yingkang replied quite dialectically: "Each has its own value, they realize their value over there, and I have always thought that my cause is in China." Now I'm more difficult than them, but I like it here and I'm willing to practice here. ”

When the two began this conversation, West China Hospital was struggling, and every move was laborious. Time passed, and in early 2013, Li Youping, who was reminiscing about the past, lamented: "It turns out that he was right, his brother is still just a professor in the United States, but he has achieved great things." ”

Shi Yingkang's guarding of West China Hospital is intentional, and it is no accident that he will lead the run.

Because he is two years younger than Li Youping and has worked together before going abroad, Shi Yingkang often pulls this "big sister" to talk about his heart. Also in 1996, one day he and Li Youping talked about the development of the hospital, and couldn't help but pour out: "I'm a man, I don't like to open my mouth to ask for people, or do it myself." "He really did it." Li Youping, who did not have less to talk with Shi Yingkang at work, summed it up like this.

Just like this, Shi Yingkang, who was once young and vigorous, stepped over the flower armor, and his sideburns were as white as frost.

Li Weimin and Jingjing, who took over the "baton" on the day of the change, also had many feelings.

In his speech, Li Weimin talked about the "dedication" and "innovation" that Shi Yingkang and Zheng Shang maintained, and radiated this spirit to all employees. Jing Jing said that the new job is a "heavy responsibility", because the West China Hospital, which was born in 121 years, has condensed the painstaking efforts of several generations, and has achieved remarkable achievements in the past 20 years, standing at such a high starting point, and coinciding with the national medical reform period, it is bound to face huge management challenges. New teams, new actions. Soon after taking office, the two put forward the new goal of West China Hospital, that is, the "sixteen-character policy": internationally renowned, domestic first-class, social satisfaction, and happy employees.

When the dust of the change of term settled, many domestic media traced back the history of West China Hospital in the past 20 years, and many of them used "earth-shaking" to describe the hospital changes during this period. In terms of Shi Yingkang's personal popularity, an official of the Sichuan Provincial Health Department once smiled and expressed his jealousy: "Many times we held meetings together, everyone shook hands and changed business cards around him, but I did not have such treatment." ”

How does Shi Yingkang himself view his past experiences and social evaluations?

Author: You have made a lot of rules for West China Hospital, are you worried that the past system may not be renewed after leaving office?

Shi Yingkang: There are no concerns, but there will definitely be some phenomena that the system is difficult to continue. Why not worry? Because after I left office, I became an external factor (promoting the development of West China Hospital), and it was previously an internal factor (promoting the development of West China Hospital). The law in the world is that external causes act through internal causes.

Author: Some people say that you are one of the four presidents in the history of West China Hospital who can be called a "milestone", what do you think of this evaluation?

Shi Yingkang: There are good and bad evaluations, I think it is better to leave the evaluation to history, the farther the time distance, the more real and comprehensive the evaluation given. In the final analysis, when I left office, I gave myself 32 words: tolerance is great, no desire is rigid; spoiled, not shocked, to stay unintentional; aim high, the pursuit of excellence; willing to leave the evaluation to history.

For years, Shi Yingkang has loved the Russian poet Pushkin's Monument.

A few of them are:

I built a non-artificial monument for myself

On the path that people take there, the grass no longer grows

It lifted the head that refused to yield

Towering above Alexander's monumental pillars.

……

Neither fear insults nor aspire to laurels

Praise and slander, both calmly tolerant

There is no need to argue with foolish people.

In any case, there is no doubt that in the 20 years since Shi Yingkang and Zheng Shangwei took over from succession to shift, West China Hospital as a whole has been upgraded, and the scale of the great change is secondary, what is important is that new ideas, broad vision, broad mind, mature rules, and the quality of hard work have grown in this building... A group of persistent and enterprising West China people have successfully forged a classic legend in the medical field.