Quote:
Originally Posted by NYBob
I've always felt the hospitals/ERs were the weakest link in TV. For a community of some 150k +/- surprisingly it seems to lack any clout to get this corrected.
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It's positively weird. I grew up in Tulsa when it only had a population of 200K. There were 5 excellent hospitals to choose from. But here, in a community of 150K old people, it's a half-hour ambulance ride to a backwater p***ant little hospital I wouldn't have taken my kids to for a tonsillectomy.
How do I know this? Because when my wife had a stroke last year, they took her to the "best" stroke hospital in the area -- HCA Ocala. It took me 45 minutes to get there, following the ambulance, and when I asked the receptionist to buzz me through the door, she ordered me to sit down and wait my turn. Five minutes later, a face appears at the window, points to me, asks my name, and finally lets me through.
Their first question -- over an hour after the 911 call? "Do we have your permission to administer a clot buster?"
WHAT???!!! YOU HAVEN'T DONE THAT ALREADY??
"No, we were afraid of a brain bleed"
But it's OBVIOUSLY a deep vein thrombosis that started as chest pain when she moved off the couch! Did you scan for a bleed?
"Yes, there is no bleed and we can see the clot."
So you're asking my permission to save my wife's life? Yes, dammit! Give her the clot buster!
"OK, sign here... and here... and here... and here..."
It's a miracle she survived, and with no lasting problems. I certainly don't credit her Florida healthcare.