In the 1980s, "doctors" who were natives of Putian in Fujian province offered treatments to people that were not able to seek medical attention in public hospitals due to the shame they felt with having sexually transmitted diseases or STDs. However, these "dermatologists" did not receive any proper medical training.
Today, the same people now called as the Putian Gang manage over more than 80 percent of the private hospitals in mainland China. The group has also strong connections to military medical institutions.
Zhan Guoqing, one of the Putian investors in the medical industry, said: "Most of the so-called Putian doctors came from Dongzhuang township and had no medical training. They were very active in dermatology 30 years ago." He defended the Putian against the people who still think about the unqualified barefoot medical practitioners for the said town.
The South China Morning Post reported that hospitals, whether public medical centers or military institutions, are not allowed to outsource any of their departments.
However, this practice continues, as evidenced by the controversy on the experimental cancer treatment of Wei Zexi, who died after the procedure failed. He spent 200,000 yuan on his treatment at the Beijing paramilitary hospital, not knowing that the Putian-controlled Shanghai Kangxin hospital is the actual cancer treatment center where he would be treated.
Former Kangxin shareholder Chen Yuanfa admitted that bribery was part of the negotiations with the president of a military hospital in order to obtain the contract, to the tune of above 10,000 yuan to 1 million yuan. The practice went on to achieve contracts with 80 military medical institutions by 2011. In return, the profit of some departments goes as high as 200 million yuan annually.
Despite the stained images of the Putian barefoot doctors, the Putian investors are attempting to save their reputation through private hospital investments.