The Magician’s Memorial - Chapter 406



Only Noblemtl

406. Good misunderstanding (1)

I returned to the company and called the planning director.

While I was at Centrian, the planning director had collected a lot of information about MERS.

“Currently, there is only 1 person infected with MERS, but the number of suspected patients is said to be 5. However, since there are so many people with overlapping movements, from the airport to the plane and the restaurant, it is unknown how many more people will be infected.”

“Is the government continuing to delay releasing information?”

“Our policy is not to disclose information until we secure accurate information.”

It wasn’t a bad decision, but it wasn’t a good decision either.

If information was released recklessly, fear could spread quickly.

However, the moment information is concealed, various types of rumors are created.

It doesn’t matter if you trust the government.

In the current situation, where the approval rating is around 30%, non-disclosure of information is criticized.

“It must be quite difficult for the government.”

“There are rumors that the Blue House is very embarrassed. The relevant ministries are trying hard to resolve the issue, but it is not an issue that will go away easily.”

“The Republic of Korea is in difficult times, so can we just stand still? We need to treat all MERS-infected people at Taewo Hospital.”

The planning director always accepted my opinion unconditionally.

They simply quickly reported what conditions were necessary to accept the opinion.

“In the case of MERS-infected patients, negative pressure rooms are essential due to their strong contagiousness. Taewoo Hospital currently has only 5 negative pressure rooms. In addition, more than 20 negative pressure rooms are needed, and the cost of installing negative pressure rooms is estimated to be at least 200 million won. It’s possible.”

“It costs quite a lot to build one hospital room, 200 million won. Still, it is an amount that can be used sufficiently to fulfill social responsibility. Let’s build about 100 rooms instead of 20.”

It was said that adding 100 negative pressure rooms would cost 20 billion won.

It was a huge amount, but it wasn’t that big of a sum when you think of it as an amount to secure information about the coronavirus.

“There are various costs involved, not just the negative pressure room. You need to purchase ventilators, ECMO equipment, etc., and the cost of maintaining the negative pressure room alone requires more than 10 million won per month.”

“It must cost quite a bit of money.”

“If you consider the concept of Taewoo Group’s social contribution activities, it is an amount that can be fully used.”

Taewo Group was donating close to 30 billion won every year.

The head of the planning department seemed to think that this year’s donation was not a very large amount, considering it would be used to treat MERS.

“We have a little more money to spare. Shouldn’t we also give merit to the medical staff? Please pay twice the salary of the medical staff involved in MERS treatment.”

“It is not difficult to pay double the salary to the medical staff at Taewo Hospital. However, if the number of MERS patients increases, the medical staff at Taewo Hospital alone will not be enough. In that case, we will have to recruit external medical staff.”

“The same salary must be paid to external medical staff to avoid equity issues. Please start recruiting external medical staff in advance now. That way, when the outbreak occurs, won’t we be able to quickly find medical staff?”

For the medical staff, no matter how much was spent, it was not a waste at all.

Without their help, it would not have been possible to obtain information about the coronavirus.

Since they were very grateful people who would enhance the image of Taewo Group, I wanted to give them a bonus not double but more than that.

“We will make all preparations at the planning office level. However, it is unclear whether the government will act according to our wishes.”

“There is no reason for the government to refuse when they say they will find the answer on their own. If the Taewo Group gives the impression that they are taking action for the development of the country and the success of this administration, they will have no choice but to join our hand.”

“Do you plan to negotiate directly with the government?”

“Vice President Han will make a move. He will do well as he has already met government officials at the dinner party.”

The planning director nodded with a strange smile.

He went back to the planning office to handle the work I had instructed him to do, and I immediately called Vice President Han into the office.

“Please come and meet with government officials. Just say that the Taewo Group will take full charge of MERS treatment.”

“What do you mean by that?”

I gave a detailed explanation to Vice President Han for over 10 minutes.

He said that he would take charge of MERS treatment as part of Taewoo Group’s social contribution activities.

“I think it will be a great help in raising the image of Taewoo Group. And it also seems like an opportunity to change the government’s perception of us, which is slightly unfavorable due to the foundation contribution issue.”

“So, come and meet government officials. If the Taewoo Group offers to help you, they will treat you very grandly. How many chances do you have to hear a thank you from a government official? Take this opportunity and accept it without any hesitation.”

“I’ll contact you today.”

It was a vice president who consistently responded positively.

This was a reaction that came from not knowing that dedicated MERS treatment costs tens of billions of won.

If I knew the amount, I probably wouldn’t smile like I do now.

* * *

next day.

I received a call from David.

[boss! I received a reply from Chiron. They demanded $100 million in exchange for handing over all information related to the SARS treatment. What should I do?]

“I am determined to take advantage of this opportunity.”

[If you give it a little more time, negotiation is possible. For Chiron, this is a golden opportunity to sell useless medicine. No one wants to buy it except us.]

“Just buy it. Time is more precious than money right now.”

[okay! Still, I will try to cut as much as I can. It didn’t seem like they had any intention of receiving the full $100 million.]

It was Chiron, an American company.

David’s main battlefield was the United States, and it seemed that if David demonstrated his abilities, he could purchase the SARS treatment development data at a reasonable level.

“We will give you a bonus of 5% of the discounted amount, so do your best.”

[After all, the boss knows how to treat people!]

“Instead, we have to finish it in two days.”

[Two days are enough and there is plenty left over. Then I’ll hang up the phone. Every minute and every second is a waste.]

Tudu-!

David was the first to hang up the phone.

The moment I put down my cell phone, a vice president rushed in.

“Chairman! I think you should watch TV for a while.”

“It looks like there’s a breaking news.”

Vice President Han picked up the remote control and turned on the TV.

All broadcasting stations were broadcasting urgent breaking news.

[The government designated Taewo Hospital as a MERS-only hospital. All infected and suspected patients can receive treatment and care at Taewo Hospital, and the government has decided to fully support treatment and medical expenses.]

Negotiations with the government had not yet been officially completed.

But how can the media know and publish such breaking news at the same time?

“Did you spill the sauce on our side?”

“No. It looks like the government distributed a press release.”

“They seem to be very anxious. They start by sending out breaking news without even finishing negotiations with us.”

“It seems like a plan to keep us from saying anything else.”

It was breaking news that hit the nail on the head.

Taewoo Group could no longer take a step back, and had no intention of taking a step back.

“Then we should start in earnest now. Ask the planning director to come in.”

The planning director was already waiting outside the door.

Since he rushed to the chairman’s office as soon as he saw the breaking news, the meeting was able to proceed without delay.

“We have decided to vacate the RND Center at Taewo Hospital by the end of today and use it as an emergency ward. Construction of 20 negative pressure rooms has already begun, and we have commissioned external production of portable negative pressure rooms.”

“There was also a portable negative pressure room.”

“Once the MERS situation calms down, shouldn’t the negative pressure room be dismantled? However, in the case of a mobile negative pressure room, it can be stored outside. That way, if a similar infectious disease occurs, we can respond quickly. And in the case of a mobile negative pressure room, the production cost is “It’s relatively inexpensive.”

As expected, he was the planning director of Taewo Group.

He did his job perfectly and even found a better way to do it than I thought.

“How much does it cost to build a portable negative pressure chamber?”

“It’s around 30 to 40 million won. Considering the equipment and facilities, it costs more than 100 million won, but compared to a negative pressure ward, it’s only half the price.”

“A negative pressure ward costs 200 million won!”

It was a vice president who suddenly intervened.

Only now did he know how much it would cost to take full charge of the MERS outbreak.

“They said it would cost about 200 million won. That’s not important, so don’t interrupt me. How many portable negative pressure rooms have you requested?”

“So far, 20 have been requested. The production period is said to take about a week to 10 days. Since 20 can be produced at a time, we have requested only that many.”

“Then, please order 80 more. Won’t the number of MERS infections continue to increase? We need to have about 100 to accept all patients.”

“I will place the request today.”

I looked at Vice President Han out of the corner of my eye.

He was working hard on a calculator in his head and seemed to realize that the MERS outbreak had cost Taewo Group tens of billions of won.

“Chairman, the amount is too excessive. I will step forward and seek government support. At least in the case of negative pressure rooms, we can receive government support.”

“If that happens, owning a negative pressure room becomes complicated. It’s not something we’ll use once and then throw away, so it’s better to just build it with our own money.”

“When are we going to use it again? Once the MERS crisis is over, won’t it no longer be useful?”

It was a vice president who did not know that COVID-19 was going to spread.

But I was well aware of how important a negative pressure room was.

“Isn’t there another use for it? And if we receive government support for no reason, it will only lead to interference.”

“Okay, then I’ll just go to the financial tower. If I want to earn more than the amount the Chairman used, I think I’ll have to short sell a little more aggressively today.”

In some ways, Vice President Han had a petty side.

They are making trillions in profits through short selling in China, yet they react so sensitively to spending tens of billions of won.

It’s not like I’m spending money on the wrong things!

They say they will contribute to the country and use it for the future of Taewoo Group.

Ignoring Vice Chairman Han who returned to the financial tower.

We continued to discuss measures to prepare for the MERS outbreak with the head of the planning office.

“Is the recruitment of medical staff going well?”

“Honestly, I thought it would be difficult, but I am unintentionally receiving help from the government.”

“What kind of help is the government providing?”

“It is said that an official letter was sent to each university hospital mandating that they must select medical staff and send them to Taewo Hospital. It was a threatening official letter that if they opposed the recruitment of medical staff, their national support would be cut.”

Which university hospital would object?

It would not be wrong to say that university hospitals receive government subsidies.

“Please continue to take care of the MERS treatment so that there is no disruption.”

“We will provide precise management 24 hours a day.”

Now everything is ready.

So now all we have to do is collect the information obtained from MERS treatment.

Some kind of system was needed to collect all the information without missing anything.

And we had the best programmers to create this system.

“Where is Center Director Cheon Min-jeong right now? Please call the president’s office right away.”