hospital

Amen, roadrunner. I hope you will consider working in the Emergency Department at Schneider Regional so you can take care of Trade if needed. 😉

Well, I was aiming for working on STX, but... that's the kind of patient I love... a true emergency (not life-threatening, but potentially limb-threatening), easy to diagnose, quick to fix, high patient satisfaction (because of the first two), out the door with a splint and crutches and pain meds in no time.

Along the lines of Trade's story... I've heard people say that when they need meds that you can't buy over the counter, they go to the medicine aisle at a pet store. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's interesting!! (I will say that I have used dog superglue on myself in place of Dermabond...)

Good post, roadrunner.
And...speaking of taxes and health care, anyone else out there as appalled as I that the state of CA will most likely foot the bill for the Suleman octuplets (+6)? IMO, this is one seriously messed up situation!

As an aside, spell check doesn't recognize the word octuplets.

juanita it is messed up. ca is going to have to pay for them. no job no health insurance parents banckrupt because of her. hey at least she has an education. maybe one day she can get another job and support her and the kids. but you know what, they are cute babies. if you go to her web site you can donate to her. no i will not donate to her

She is going to be a counselor. 😮

roadrunner--there may just be some hope on the way for curing a cold! This article came out today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/health/research/13cold.html?hp

And...speaking of taxes and health care, anyone else out there as appalled as I that the state of CA will most likely foot the bill for the Suleman octuplets (+6)? IMO, this is one seriously messed up situation!

Don't forget that she has eight other children, for a total of 14!

All of the media coverage about this woman, shows like Jon and Kate +8, etc compel me to beg the women of the world to remember one thing: your vagina is not a clown car.

And maybe the sperm donor should have taken up another hobby. Same father for all of them & he's an idiot also since he was the father of the original 6 as well as the final 8.

sounds like that father should be made to ante up and support his "kids"

I have used the STX hospital ER for a (non life-threatening) need. I explained my problem up front and was told that I would be taken care of after anyone having a more serious problem. I appreciated that and was taken in later and was very pleased with the care I was given. In the States I have not felt that I was treated as well. When I was ready to leave the nurse that was with me gave me names of Doctors who could continue with my care. I called two of them and was able to get a appointment without a problem.

I for one give Juan Luis ER on St Croix a thumbs up! (tu)

stxem, interesting article! Sounds like there's a lot of work still to be done, but hey, if they come up with something that works and doesn't have much of a down side, I'd be all for it. It would give me more time with the gunshot wounds, stabbings, car wrecks, heart attacks, strokes, etc. (Not that I would wish any of those on anyone, but at least I feel like I can be helpful when those things do happen!)

danielb it is good to hear stories that are positive about the hospital. i knew it couldnt be all bad

I've been in the ER twice in 6 years for non-emergency, but necessary, things during late night/early morning hours. Both time I was treated appropriately without undue delay.

Last year our daughter broke her arm .... and the hospital staff treated her with respect and kindness. They we especially gentle with her and explained everything they were doing... they were also very concerned with preventing as much unnecessary pain to her as possible.

Once they had the x-rays done they called the orthopedic surgeon and discussed the situation with him. At his recommendation, we went straight to his office with x-rays in hand to his office down the hill. He examined her and made arrangements for her to have surgery. She then met the surgical staff and they too treated my (then) eight year old with great care and respect. They did not talk down to her and they made sure she understood what was going on at all times.

The entire process only took 9 hours from arrival in ER to leaving post-op care. They let me know what all was going on and that there were two more broken bones more critical in front of her in line for surgery.... I found the whole process stressful and scary... but the staff we met in the ER, the doctor's office, and the surgical area helped us through what was, for us, a very difficult time.

I am to deliver my baby at San Luis in the next several weeks and am very confident that the staff will a great job... it may not be a pretty hospital but the people have been very nice to my family!

The billing department is a very different story though.... check your bills and question everything... normally they are good about correcting their mistakes, if you give them enough time.

You can be the best doctor in the world and have administration and budget restraints that cause the whole system to break down. It is not always the doctors fault. My 2 cents.

film,
I don't think anyone even mentioned doctors here. Maybe I missed it. Our problems are more administrative, budget, the physical facility in need of work, etc., and of course my personal favorite...lack of communication! Far as I know, most of the doctors are fine. I haven't had a lot of experience with them, though.

While I agree that I think people were talking about the facility as a whole, you make a good point, film. It's not 1894 anymore... the doctors don't hire the nurses, techs, billing personnel, etc. Doctors are just employees of a hospital like everyone else there. Most of a trip to an ED involves little contact with a doctor. You check in with a triage nurse, get taken to a room by a nurse or tech, sit in the room for a while, see a doctor for a few minutes, wait for labs/x-rays/whatever, see the nurse a few times as she draws blood, gives meds, takes you to x-ray, etc., maybe see the doctor again for discussion of results, get your discharge instructions from the nurse, and chat with the billing/registration people on the way out. I've had patients ask the nurses when they're going to see a doctor when they've already seen me, even though I introduced myself as Dr. So and So. Patients see so many different people, and emergency docs tend not to wear white coats. (And I think some people still have the impression that all doctors are middle-aged white men with gray hair and glasses!)

I'm happy to hear a few accounts of good impressions of the hospital there. 🙂

i've been to the er here twice over the years, once for a sliced up finger and once for killer middle of the night toothache,for the first they stiched me up and the second they gave me a shot of demerol, in and out both times in less than an hour

Nicely said roadrunner!!! It's always refreshing to get some input from those who actually sit and think of a way to contribute possitively on this site.

roadrunner: The health care system is a bit paternalistic here. People will say, "Whatever the doctor wants" and tend not to advocate for themselves or their loved ones. Also, in all areas of health care, men tend to be called "doctor" and women "nursie".

East Ender, I guess I'm not surprised, since it's a rather traditional culture in many other ways. We get that a lot here with the Mexican/Central American culture (and a lot of Somalian immigrants, too). It teaches you to pay attention to non-verbal cues and subtle things that come up in conversation... although you can never catch everything, and it's a lot easier if people just speak up. 🙂

As for the "men are doctors and women are nurses" thing... that's everywhere. People call me "Nurse" almost every day, and they call our male nurses "Doctor." I like to tell them, "Oh, I'm not your nurse. I'm just a doctor. I'll have to ask your nurse about that" when it's something to do with their IV not working or whatever... I don't know much about nursing stuff, and I'll screw it up if I try to fix it!

I have had good experiences with the hospitals on STT. When I was young, around 1973-74, I had 2nd degree burns from being out in the sun too long. The old hospital, behind Lionel Roberts Stadium, is where I went. The were very nice to me and treated my burns quickly.

Another time in about 1983 I contracted Dengue Fever and managed to walk into the hospital with 104.7 temp. They were also kind, and the first week I was there they had a nurse watch me 24 hours a day.

What you just described in one of the MAJOR causes of waste, medical mistakes, and general grief in the American medical system.

This is the OLD way of doing things and some (not most) facilities have truly figured out how to break this process and innovate in a manner to fix this mess. I had the luxury of using a Seattle suburban clinic of the Swedish Medial hospital system over the past couple of years and they used Six Sigma to completely re-write the book. They no longer have waiting rooms, they nearly eliminated the manual handoffs (when you are brought right in to the individual waiting room complete with hospital bed and family seating the person bringing you in uses their 2-way radio to bring the next person in the process in; they use off-shore U.S. licensed doctors for quick radiology turnaround after-hours, etc.)

We had the misfortune of using Swedish's ER system at least a dozen times in the past couple of years and from the time we walked in to the time we walked out (with X-ray, CT scan, cast, etc.) averaged 55 minutes and the longest stay was about 2 hours. The quality of care was by no means sacrificed and I would say vastly improved by not having to tell your medical story to several people, wait for someone to wander by and see your chart ready outside the door, etc.. More to the point the actual cost for service is much lower because you're spending less time there and less staff is involved in physically moving you and or your paperwork around.

I know it's a bit much to expect locally when even most mainland hospitals haven't advanced this far but I know there's plenty of opportunities for process improvement locally.

While I agree that I think people were talking about the facility as a whole, you make a good point, film. It's not 1894 anymore... the doctors don't hire the nurses, techs, billing personnel, etc. Doctors are just employees of a hospital like everyone else there. Most of a trip to an ED involves little contact with a doctor. You check in with a triage nurse, get taken to a room by a nurse or tech, sit in the room for a while, see a doctor for a few minutes, wait for labs/x-rays/whatever, see the nurse a few times as she draws blood, gives meds, takes you to x-ray, etc., maybe see the doctor again for discussion of results, get your discharge instructions from the nurse, and chat with the billing/registration people on the way out. I've had patients ask the nurses when they're going to see a doctor when they've already seen me, even though I introduced myself as Dr. So and So. Patients see so many different people, and emergency docs tend not to wear white coats. (And I think some people still have the impression that all doctors are middle-aged white men with gray hair and glasses!)

I'm happy to hear a few accounts of good impressions of the hospital there. 🙂

goodtogo
now that sound nice.