Jan
15
When I'm sitting in the waiting room for over an hour with my mom, who could have been in the midst of a stroke, waiting for the doctor, or wheeling a frightened, bloody friend through the emergency room and later visiting him in his hospital bed, IVs, catheter and all, or in any way having to interact with the greater medical system, all I can think of is how barbaric the instruments are and outdated the whole process seems.But when I'm healthy and far from the clinic, it's an issue that slips easily out of the orbit of my primary concerns and follows the majority of my intellectual inquiries and good-samaritan efforts into the black hole of my consciousness, dissipating alongside such things as witty Halloween costume ideas and drunken small talk.
As I've been reading and watching a lot of war-time narratives, health has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Insuring that every citizen has access to basic, yet proper, healthcare should be the government's primary concern. For so many reasons, the American medical system has to change. I admit, I'm going to take the role of the critic here and not offer a solution. There are plenty out there already, and it will only be a matter of time until we are forced to choose one.
Anyway, the other day I came across this article. The original article was about the failure of doctor's offices to do what they were intended to do: consider the welfare of its patients and keep them feeling as good as possible. It considers such things as out-of-date magazines, dead plants, hospital gowns that cover very little, and anxiety-inducing floor plans. Check it out, but most of all, don't skip reading the comments. A few healthcare providers contribute their perspectives, which basically all point out the fact that clinics don't have sufficient funding.
How can we afford to go to war and impose our government on others when we can't even take care of ourselves?
