Economic survey
"Seeking a doctor hotel": How to manage the special short-term rental housing market
The anti-cancer "Hu Piao" not only stimulated the short-term rental housing market around the cancer hospital, but also gave birth to supporting shared kitchens, wig shops, and short-term rental material shops.
How to regulate the management of "seeking medical hotel" and its supporting industries has become a new topic for city managers.
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A room of 10 square meters is equipped with two beds and a TV as standard. The rent is settled on a daily basis, ranging from 100 yuan to 300 yuan per day. The housing is deployed by several non-listed intermediaries... In recent years, a large number of cancer patients have come to For medical treatment in Shanghai, due to limited medical resources, long queuing cycles, and financial constraints for patients, a special short-term rental house called a "medical hotel" has appeared around the Cancer Hospital of Fudan University.
Recently, with the overall improvement of Shanghai's rental housing market, the rents of these "medical hotels" have also risen sharply.
On the website of a formal intermediary, the reporter saw that the first, second, and third villages of Dong'an near Fudan Cancer Hospital were all without houses. The most recent listing was a 60-square-meter property in Dong'an Three Village, with a rent of 8,500 yuan.
“It’s more expensive than other places in Xuhui District. There’s no other way and it’s convenient for treatment. It’s just in need.” Xiao Wang, an intermediary, told reporters that almost all of Fudan Cancer Hospital is short-term rental housing, “250 yuan per day, 60 square meters per room. Three rooms can earn 750 yuan a day, which is far more profitable than monthly rent, and the supply exceeds demand."
Difficulty in hospitalization, long queues, short-term rentals are just needed
The Xuhui campus of Fudan Cancer Hospital is located on Dong'an Road, Shanghai. More than one million cancer patients visit here every year, including a large number of medical seekers from other places.
According to the official website of the hospital, in 2019, the number of outpatient visits in the hospital reached 1,572,900, the number of hospitalizations was 100.7 million, and the number of operations was 51,400. The average hospital stay of discharged patients was 4.9 days, and the hospital's operating efficiency ranked among the best in the national cancer hospitals.
Taking the MRI examination in this hospital as an example, the reporter saw in the examination hall that most patients had made an appointment 15-20 days ago.
During the 15-20 days of queuing, they had no choice but to live nearby.
Some patients told reporters that because of the limited number of beds in the inpatient department of the hospital, priority can only be given to patients who are about to undergo surgery or who are in critical condition. Daily treatment is usually arranged in the outpatient department.
Therefore, this part of the patients undergoing daily treatment also needs to transition in short-term rentals around the hospital.
Most patients choose to rent in the "medical-seeking hotels" in the surrounding old communities.
53-year-old Zhuang Yixi (a pseudonym) has been after breast cancer surgery for 5 years. In the past few years, she has come to Fudan Cancer Hospital from her hometown in Yunnan for medical treatment several times and has been admitted to many communities near Dong'an Road.
"Dong'an No. 1 Village, No. 2 Village, and No. 3 Villages... have all lived in. The price is expensive and the conditions are poor, but there is no alternative. This is close to the hospital." The three communities she said are currently the hottest on Dong'an Road. "Seeking medical hotel" community.
In the third village of Dong'an, which is the nearest to the hospital, the reporter saw that many patients with limited mobility after the operation exercised near the residents’ activity flowerbeds in the community.
"I feel weak now. One step less, less pain." The patient Zou Danxia (a pseudonym) who rents here is from Jiangxi. She was diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer at the beginning of last year. She started receiving radiotherapy a few days ago. Chemotherapy is accompanied by a series of side effects such as nausea, vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, bone marrow suppression, etc. "Now it is inconvenient to move. Fortunately, I have to spend some money to live next door to the hospital. Otherwise, I can't afford to go to the hospital every day."
A "landlord" holds dozens of suites
At the exit of Dong'an Road subway station, more than 10 middle-aged women stop here for a long time every day. They hold a stack of cards with phone numbers printed on them to introduce their homes to passers-by.
These listings are not linked to any real estate leasing intermediary platform, but privately gather the property owners' listings, and then centrally allocate and rent them.
Although these people may not have their own property, the tenants all call them "landlords."
Most "landlords" have told reporters that they have dozens of homes in their hands, and they are not limited to a single community. There are also housing options with different price levels and different facilities to choose from.
Xiaohua, the "landlord" of Dong'an Three Villages, came to Shanghai from his hometown of Fujian in August 2017. After accidentally learning about the huge rental market from a friend, he decided to "join the game."
After several years of business, he has 90 rooms available for rent.
Now, he has taken his wife, children and mother-in-law to live in Shanghai.
During the day, he was busy with work, handing over the task of soliciting guests to his wife and mother-in-law.
It is the norm for "landlords" on Dong'an Road to drag their homes.
The remarks of Lao Yuan’s WeChat name are “Room 364 in Dong’an Second Village”. He is 50 years old. He is usually responsible for coordinating housing and collecting rent, while his wife is responsible for changing sheets and cleaning public areas for each house. The sister-in-law is responsible for issuing the cards and showing them.
The reporter noticed that because the two parties of the lease traded through informal channels, the "landlords" were unable to sign any formal contracts with the tenants.
The patient Zhuang Yixi showed the reporter a WeChat chat message-"stay on Saturday (from 30), air conditioning starting from 140 a day and 15 days after the 4th"-this was sent to her by a "landlord" in Dong'an 2nd Village. Sentences without punctuation or even text messages with typos are her only "vouchers" for this lease.
Most of the communities along Dong’an Road were built in the 1980s and 1990s. The size of the community ranges from 500 to 3000. The houses are crowded, the decoration is old, and the houses of 50 square meters are mostly divided into 3 rooms, housing 6 people, patients and Accompanying family members are equally divided.
Some houses have transformed storage rooms and other spaces into living compartments. There are no windows and air conditioners in the compartments, and some are even separated by a sliding door and aisle.
The crowded personnel, large noise, and small space have brought distress to many postoperative patients who need meditation.
In 2015, the media even broke an extreme case in which a house was partitioned into 9 "cells" and a balcony of less than 6 square meters in the house was transformed into a guest room.
Some patients told reporters that the cleanliness of public areas is a “big problem”, and some patients even said that they had caught mice in the kitchen.
According to Zhuang Yixi, the public refrigerator in her rented house is frequently used and lacks cleaning for a long time, and it has become filthy.
She often keeps the injection medicine in the refrigerator, but there are often uneaten vegetable root peels left in the refrigerator. "I don't know if it will be contaminated if it is put together."
"Seeking medical hotel" spawns supporting merchants
The anti-cancer "Hu Piao" not only stimulated the short-term rental housing market around Dong'an Road, but also gave birth to supporting shared kitchens, wig shops, and short-term rental material shops.
In Dong'an Village, a house on the first floor was cut through the outer wall and transformed into a "shared kitchen."
Those who come here to cook are all patients and family members nearby.
Xiaodong, the operator of the "shared kitchen", has been doing business here for 12 years. In addition to providing a place for patients and their families to cook, she is also responsible for processing.
"Do whatever you want to do" and "provide professional meal processing, stew and meal processing services for medical friends." Xiaodong wrote all the tasks she can do on her business card.
She put the business card box on the kitchen window sill, and set up a striking sign, the window also listed the processed dishes and prices.
Walking into the kitchen, two rows of densely arranged stoves lined up. Seasonings such as soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and chili sauce take into account the tastes of North and South, and all kinds of cookware are also available.
In addition to some home-cooked dishes, Xiaodong also specially introduced several foods for cancer patients-"Wuhong Tang (especially effective for raising platelets) 15 yuan per serving; Monopterus albus bone soup (especially effective for raising white blood cells) 15 yuan per serving" .
In addition, there are some merchants that appear specifically for the special needs of cancer patients.
Around Fudan Cancer Hospital, there are at least three wig shops. The price of wigs ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand yuan, and the sales volume is considerable.
The surrounding convenience stores also have loose pajamas for patients, folding chairs for accompanying family members, washbasins, chamber pots, and three-piece sets on the bed.
A department store owner told reporters that these are the most important living supplies for residents of "seeking hotels". "If there are more people in need, we will buy more."
According to the data reported by the national tumor registration and monitoring points in 2020, there are about 3.929 million new cancer cases in my country each year, and the incidence rate is close to the world average.
Due to the uneven distribution of medical resources between regions, there are more and more medical treatment groups from different places such as the anti-cancer "Hu Piao" pouring into big cities.
Except for Shanghai, there are similar "hotels for seeking medical treatment" around large cancer hospitals in cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi'an, and Nanjing.
The emergence of this special short-term rental housing market, on the one hand, is convenient for cancer patients, on the other hand, there are also safety risks.
"Landlords" carry out informal leasing operations and renovate houses in violation of regulations, while group rental housing and shared kitchens also have safety and health risks, and conflicts and disputes between tenants also occur from time to time.
How to standardize the management of the short-term rental housing market around large hospitals while taking into account the basic living needs of medical personnel in different places has become a new topic for urban managers.
Intern Ma Qinglong, China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Wang Yejie Source: China Youth Daily
Edition 05 on July 20, 2021