The State of America’s Health Care by Rambling Raven
By Raven • Feb 16th, 2009 • Category: Rambling Raven •
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The State of America’s Health Care by Rambling Raven
Last week I took a spill on some ice and came down pretty hard on my right knee. After cursing the endless winter that has engulfed Chicago, I gathered my strength and pulled myself on to my feet. The first thing I did was the “is it broken” test. I moved my knee in several different directions to make sure that it was still mobile. Although it hurt like hell I was satisfied that at the very least I could still move it. Embarrassed and in pain I limped on home, iced and elevated the knee and took a few painkillers. I awoke the next morning and found myself in more pain then I had the night before. I could barely stand putting weight on my bruised knee. I called off from work and went to the emergency room.
Now having lived in Chicago all my life, I pretty much know which hospitals are acceptable to go to and which ones to stay the hell away from. For example, Jackson Park Hospital, here on the city’s south side is a no-no. Jackson Park is one of those hospitals that is understaffed and over flooded with patients. The joke around the south side of town is that if you are at all conscious ask to be taken anywhere besides Jackson Park. The saying goes that you can die before you get to see a doctor and even if you do see a doctor you still are taking your chances.
You also take your chances if you end up at Cook County Hospital (the free hospital) here as well. It has recently been renamed Stroger’s Hospital but most residents call it the “County.” The wait at the “County” is so notorious that news reports have been done on it. It can literally take up to twelve hours or more to see a doctor in the emergency room. People have been known to come in with chest pains and set aside to wait on a doctor for hours. My sister swear that she saw a heart patient there who they had oxygen, and a heart monitor hooked to him wait for six hours before a doctor finally came to his aide. Yet, the County has the best doctors in the city because they are well trained in emergency situations. The doctors at the County see and experience every different situation you can think of. The trick is to go on a holiday such as Christmas or pray that there are no shootings in the city, car crashes or fires. Good luck on that one.
Any hoot, I figured hell I got insurance, I can do a little better than the County. I ended up at Rush Presbyterian. I was told by my cousin that they had a small waiting room and they got their patients in and out fairly quickly. She swore to me that she never waited more than an hour. Well that all sounded good to me.
I learned a few things while waiting in that emergency room. First, I learned that I should never trust my cousin. She knows nothing. I also learned that if (God forbid) you ever have to go to an emergency room, never go on a Friday. I be damned if everything in the world doesn’t happen on a Friday. I and my poor little leg continually got pushed back because of all the police escorted emergencies that came through the door. I don’t know what was going on in the streets but that evening the police were very busy. I didn’t so much mind that. I mean after all that is what an emergency room is for. However, sitting there I realized something else. Many of the people who came in on their own accord were people without a primary healthcare provider. When you sit in an emergency room for over six hours you get a chance to see and overhear a lot. From my observations, I saw people who sat around with injuries and who had been in tons of pain for days before seeking help. Most of the waiting was due to the fact that they had no money or insurance to go to a doctor. So they waited until their problems escalated into emergencies.
I also noticed a lot of people who used the emergency room for simple things like colds, headaches and minor aches and pains. They did not have a primary doctor of their own. They used the emergency room because they knew that no matter how long they had to wait and no matter how minor the incidents they wouldn’t be turned away. I counted six people ahead of me who, by their own admissions, had nothing more than head or chest colds and wanted cough syrup. Half of them were parents with young children. After waiting two hours there was one woman who told her daughter that she was tired of waiting. She said that she could go to a sister’s house to see if she had cough medicine. A nurse asked her was she sure that she didn’t want to wait to see the doctor. The young lady told the nurse that since the little girl didn’t have a fever she didn’t want to wait any longer. She then put the child’s coat on and left the emergency room.
I thought about how different emergency rooms would look in this country, especially in major urban areas, if we had universal healthcare. More people could go to a primary provider instead of crowding emergency rooms with relative non-emergency issues. County hospitals wouldn’t be so burdened with things that a general practitioner could handle in his/her office. Countries around the world (like Germany), have turned to universal healthcare, and they don’t seem to be suffering from it. I wonder how long it is going to take us to get to that point. Adequate and affordable healthcare for everyone in the end helps us all.
Luckily, after my six hour wait I found out that I didn’t break anything. I didn’t tear a ligament or tendon. I do have minor muscle strains and tears around the knee. There isn’t anything that can be done about it other than to brave the pain, keep the knee wrapped in a knee stabilizer and to rest it as much as possible. I will check back with my personal doctor in two weeks to make sure everything is healing in a timely manner.
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Raven is an educator with a B.A. in Psychology and a M.A. in Education. She has been an avid reader since childhood. Her favorite genres are mystery, suspense, and horror, although she will give any genre a try. She is a life long resident of Chicago. Her love of books opened her mind to people, places and events far beyond her Chicago home. Reading helped to shape her world and her opinion of the events that took place within it. No matter what demands her career requires of her, she has always found time to read and write in a journal. Along with reading and journaling, she loves to watch the sunset, and discuss hot topics with family and friends. She loves baseball, horror movies, mysteries, listening to music from every corner of the world and expressing her view of the latest books with the women of APOOO.
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Every time I visit any kind of medical professional I send up a prayer for people who have no insurance, especially the coverage that we are blessed to have. That’s why I am hoping for the day when people are not denied care for illnesses that they surely didn’t invite into their lives or that could bankrupt them for the rest of their lives.
Hospitals scare me. A few years ago my husband was sick and it looked like a bad cold. It was complicated by the fact that he is an insulin dependent diabetic. We go to the emergency room because he was just not feeling well. The sent us home and said he needed to let the cold run its course. Two days later I take him back, tired of rubbing his back which he said was hurting, and tired of seeing him weeaker.
Long story short my husband is admitted into ICU……Diabetic Acid Ketosis. His back was hurting because his kidneys were failing and he was vtackie(sp), fancy word for his heart racing. The 1st doctor never did a blood gas test(very important to catch certain things in diabetics). After 3 days we go to a regular room and the doctor says,”now that you are out of the woods let me tell you. Your PH level was 7, you potassium was low and your kidneys were failing. You were about to die.”
I have learned to make sure the doctors know more than me about diabetes and that if he is sick like he was, I make them do the bllod gas test. That is why over $200.00 comes out of my check every 2 weeks, so I can get proper medical care. I feel bad for those who do not have insurance because I can imagine how they are treated.
Lashonda Silver´s last blog post..I Gave into Pressure and Hit the Bottle
Wow Lashonda…thank God you were on it and I hear you about the high cost of insurance…but when something happens its good to have it! Was your husband a juvenile diabetic?
Wow, Lashonda. Thank God your husband finally got the treatment he needed. My fear is that with the emergency rooms being so overwhelmed with patients that doctors are overlooking things. If you aren’t oozing blood or unconscious you are not given the attention that you probably need. Emergency waiting rooms are filled with tons of folk on any given day, and it seems the ultimate goal of the hospital is to get them in and out without spending too much time and money on them. In the mean time the real emergencies, like your husband’s get overlooked.
I am really glad I took him back when I did. That situation has taught me to be a pain in the ER staffs behinds with him.
Yas..Yep he has Juvenile diabetes. So he has little to no pancreas function.
The funny thing is that same hospital sent me home 2 years ago and told me I had a swollen Lymph node. I got a call the next day that I needed to come in. I got there and was advised that needed emergency surgery; it was a cyst in my throat about to burst. That turned into 5 days in the hospital for me.(and this is one of the “good” hospitals)
As one nearing 60 and no health insurance, I am scared of getting old. I am trying to eat healthy, exercise etc..so I wont need “much” in the way of medical attention because I know it wont be what it should be. Medicare from what I understand aint all that its cracked up to be so I am NOT looking forward to it..either
Linda, I so agree with you. I am also afraid of hospitals and doctors, with or without insurance. Remember, insurance isn’t all that it is cracked up to be because not all insurance is created equally. You can spend twenty years of your life paying into an unsurance and still end up in debt due to medical bills. Although from what I have seen it is better than nothing. I just think that we should get on track like most industralized nations and make healthcare universal. I think the best care is preventative. I like you, Linda believe in taking supplements, eating well and exercising.
Wow, I am thankful for my health insurance. It might change, but I pay nothing and my office co-pays and prescriptions are only $10.00. We need health care for everyone so people will not wait until they have an emergency. The key is preventitive medicine, regular check-ups to catch illnesses. Nobody, especially children should be turned away or take another person’s medicicine. Raven, you got and education by sitting in a waiting room.
Always a timely topic. While it seems like the solutions are right in front of our face, we as a country always hesitate to implement what would be best for all.
As more and more jobs go overseas you would think that there would be incentives to have people work in the health care professions.
I have to have some tests down over the next few weeks and all I can say is THANK GOD I STILL HAVE A JOB AND I STILL HAVE INSURANCE!
Dera, you are so right. I got an eyeful just sitting in an emergency waiting room. I think some of these polcy makers need to leave their government offices and truly go to where the people are. It doesn’t take a heck of a lot to see that we are in trouble when it comes to the state of healthcare in this country. We throw many at everything but the right thing. Healthcare has been a hot topic in this country for decades now and we don’t seem to be any closer to an answer.