'Companions' ease pain of China's bustling, bamboozling hospitals

Yawning funding gaps and patchy medical coverage have long funnelled many Chinese people towards better resourced city hospitals for much-needed care. Sprawling, overcrowded and noisy, the facilities can be exhausting for patients and their families, especially the elderly. The problem has fuelled the rise of patient companions, or "peizhenshi", a lucrative and unofficial service in the country's growing gig economy. Tian, 83, said most Beijing hospitals were "overwhelmingly confusing". "We have to go up and down all the floors...