[manaboutown]

A few weeks ago I had a kidney stone so painful I had to go to an ER. I arrived at 4:30 a.m. on a Thursday morning, walked in, signed the paper at reception and was back in an ER cubical within two minutes at most. The doc came in checked me out as all I knew was I was in great pain. They did a CAT scan, gave me a Flomax, a non-opioid painkiller similar to ibuprofen (so I could drive home) through an IV, gave me a couple prescriptions I could pick up later that day and released me with written instructions and a referral to a urologist. That is how a four star hospital handles things although they do have busier times and wait times. It took a few days and the stone did pass. Yay!

An 84 year old man I know finally had a long delayed bypass surgery at a one star hospital but still has serious heart issues. He recently went to the ER at a two star hospital in another city. They kept letting the street people in ahead of him. After hours of waiting they finally saw him. He asked why he had to wait while the screaming druggies and other riffraff were taken in ahead of him. The MD told him they were screaming so the hospital had to take them first. My friend told the doc "Next time, then, I'll scream!".