[Sidney Lanier]

... following is a letter I wrote today to Thomas Menton, VP/CEO of TV Regional Hospital, from which I've removed only the names of individuals involved in my treatment. Granted it's the experience of only one individual--me--that I'm sharing with my fellow TOTVers and other Villages residents, and I will similarly be sending it as a letter to the editor to the POA Newsletter:

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I am writing this letter because the questionnaire I’d been sent to complete regarding my treatment in the Emergency Department on December 16 doesn’t allow me to express completely my appreciation for the incredibly outstanding care I received that day following an accident that morning. Briefly, I took a bad fall on very unforgiving concrete, resulting in inconsequential scrapes and bruises but really tearing up my left hand pretty badly: two broken fingers, two severe lacerations, and the worst possible dislocation. I know that I will be long in healing; I also know that that healing started well that morning!

I was in the waiting area for no more than a couple of minutes, taken quickly into the triage nurse ... who was upbeat and humorous while “processing” me quickly to get me into the emergency room itself. I was made as comfortable as possible there. Though I saw the emergency room physician only briefly and not again—and the nurse on duty a few times and again only briefly, including for an injection of antibiotics—during the time of my stay, I must say that my care was exceptional.

My primary care was provided by Physician Assistant ..., who had the unpleasant task of reducing my severely dislocated finger, after first administering a series of Novocain injections around my hand, and then stitching up two lacerations that were so severe that on one finger my tendon was protruding through the wound, and this after more injections. I generally have a high pain threshold, and I’ve been through a lot of surgical procedures in my life, but this exceeded anything I had ever experienced.... I likely did not make it easier for ..., but he was so focused and intent on what he had to do while at the same time chatting with my wife and me and constantly offering reassurances. When he spoke of my waiting for the hand surgeon (...), all I could think of was “Oh no, not again!” as I had just had hand surgery up north in July. When ... [hand surgeon] did finally see it, her response was, “Well, it looks like my initial job has been done for me.” Amazing!

The bulk of the rest of my hands-on care (no pun intended ...) was provided by Health Services Technician .... He was extremely conscientious about instructions given to him by ... [P.A.], was so careful in cleaning me up and bandaging me to do it accurately while at the same time careful to cause me the least discomfort. He was reassuring at a time when both my wife and I really needed reassurance, and he even managed to round me up some packages of graham crackers and containers of juice when I realized that I had not eaten since the day before. Someone else—not sure who—also managed to scare me up—in spite of what’s said about hospital food—a really good sliced turkey dinner!

I’d like to mention one more person who, I’ve just learned, was not a hospital employee but likely a radiology tech student, and all I think I remember is a first name: .... She could not have been more compassionate in her having to position my badly damaged hand for x-rays , and she never once walked by without stopping to smile and ask how I was doing. I would like to acknowledge her to her placement supervisor, and to this end I just left a phone message with the Director of Radiology.

Though I’d never been an emergency care patient before, I have certainly taken enough people to hospital emergency rooms. I know that much depends on who else has come or been brought in for emergency care, and I know too that the administration of hospital emergency departments by default become responsible for more than just emergencies, given that about one-sixth of the population have no health coverage and are forced to rely on the emergency room as their primary health care. There is no way for anyone to know if there will be two or twelve or twenty-two or more patients in the waiting area at a given moment, and truthfully, given the condition I was in when I came in, I couldn’t say if it was quiet or crowded. All I know is that I received exceptional care—and I also know that human nature is such that people are quick to complain but slow to compliment, and this is why I am taking the time to write this letter and to acknowledge that I could not have been in better hands. Many thanks, and best wishes for a healthy and peaceful new year!