Health Care...Whats Wrong With This Program?

[Fr. Frank]

WOW! I like the janitor.

For all you who get stuck in ER's waiting for the staff who are busy playing video games, or watching the latest episode of "House" on reruns, here's a tip from my wife, who is a nurse and works in a hospital. She absolutely HATES working with inefficient jerks who think they are there just for a job, as opposed to those who are there to care for people:

The name of the Hospital CEO, and the Chief Medical Director for every hospital in the US in public information, and 99% of them have listed phone numbers. If they work for a non-profit hospital, they MUST have public contact information listed.

So, after you've watched the intake nurse lose her 32nd game of Minesweeper, call the CEO or the Chief from your cell phone, and show him the photo you just took while you were waiting for someone to help you. My sister-in-law did this when my then 7 yr. old niece had been waiting untreated and unexamined in the ER in Providence R.I. for 3 hours with bilateral pneumonia, and was subsequently found to have a blood oxygen level of 71%. The Chief Medical officer for the hospital really didn't like being awakened at 1:30 a.m. to learn his empty ER couldn't even see one sick little girl because no aide could be found to transport the child to xray, and union rules forbade the triage nurses doing it. Their entire 4 day hospital stay and treatment was FREE, except for the doctor's fee's which were only $80, a $20 copay per day.

The moral of the story: Don't be afraid to make some noise. Call the CEO, call the Medical Chief, call the Chaplain = SHAKE THE BLOODY HIERARCHAL TREE!! It really, really works. On the other hand, if they are really busy, be patient with the triage process. Some hospitals really do work hard to help.

BTW, when they tell you your cell phone call will "interfere" with medical or diagnostic equipment, that's a lie. That was only true for some old analog cell phones, which were finally phased out completely in 2006. No, repeat NO, digital cell phones interfere with any medical equipment if you disable Bluetooth communication temporarily. And Bluetooth has a maximum spherical range of 50' in open air, and about 25' in a steel reinforced building. (Nor do cell phone calls interfere with aircraft navigational equipment anymore, either, as long as Bluetooth is disabled. But the law was passed banning their use in flight in the days of analog devices)