- Joined
- Nov 19, 2002
- Messages
- 127
- Reaction score
- 9
From the following website (article will be posted following)
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m021405g.htm
So let's see, he complains about the wait time in the Emergency Department but makes no mention as to why the wait times are there (i.e. lack of inpatient hospital beds, people coming to the ED for unnecessary problems, the ED serving as a safety net for the health care community).
He complains about his body rebelling against a recent elective procedure that he cannot talk about because it is a famliy paper not a family-planning paper (Can we say Vasectomy). Yet, what he fails to elaborate on is that he wound up in the ED at 12:30 am on a Saturday night and he was able to get care. Surely his primary doctor would not see him after he had complications from this "elective procedure".
I don't know..I am probalby overreacting; however, it just frustrates me when people view the ED as the route of all problems yet in reality the back up is caused by internal issues in the hospital. That and the fact that many EDs are not large enough due to the health care system years ago really stating that EDs would not be needed as primary care doctors would handle things.
Anyone want to flood him with e-mails stating our case?
Here is the article:
ER visit becomes long night's journey into day
Monday, February 14, 2005
Strong people fight back against adversity. Lesser folks just moan and complain.
But columnists have another option. We can whip out a notebook and jot down pithy observations.
Then we can use these gems later - when we moan and complain in print.
I got to play this game a few weeks ago, when I hurried to a local emergency room about 12:30 a.m. with a painful internal problem - then sat, and sat, and sat some more.
Ultimately, I waited almost seven hours to see a doctor.
"This is sooo great!" I thought, scribbling and squirming in an uncomfortable chair in a lobby at Virtua West Jersey Hospital, Voorhees.
"This column - ouch! - will practically - urrghh! - write itself."
And indeed, I had many cool insights. (Sadly, none were induced by painkillers.)
Gee, this lobby is brightly lit and pretty loud. Not a clock in sight. And the other patrons resemble zombies as they stumble in from the night.ADVERTISEMENT - CLICK TO ENLARGE OR VISIT WEBSITE
Featured Advertisers All Shore Ballyhugh Credit Care Advertise with us!
Why, it's just like a casino - only it pays off in pain!
Plus, it provides entertainment.
Four overhead TVs pump out a bland mix of infomercials and public-affairs programs. It's the media equivalent of hospital food.
As half-hour segments crawl by, I ponder my need for exercise equipment, for a steam-cleaning appliance, for a soul-music collection.
About 5 a.m., a televised Mass begins.
I think about calling my mom, who's been urging me to go to church for the past few decades. But I can imagine her response: "If you ever bothered to pray, they would have treated you already."
I scan several news magazines - just a little outdated with cover stories about the presidential debates.
Oh, I'd sleep like a baby if I could hear one more speech by John Kerry.
My fellow patients also provide amusement. Everyone checks in at a desk in an open area, where symptoms are easily overheard.
Welcome, Toothache Guy. Hello, Spider-Bite Woman. Boy, that's one swollen finger!
And me? Let's just say my body had rebelled against a recent elective procedure that I can't describe in detail here.
Because this is a family paper, not a family-planning paper.
It turns out I just timed my emergency poorly.
Saturday nights are always bad in any ER - and this one, in early January, was worse due in part to the impact of cold-weather ailments and holiday-season stress, explained Dr. James Dwyer, Virtua's chief medical officer.
"We certainly feel badly," he told me in an interview, noting a wait of two to three hours is considered troublesome. "Our norm is 30 patients and they were dealing with 61 that night."
But even long nights end eventually.
I can tell you that dawn spread its rosy glow across the sky like some sort of untreated rash. That a staffer finally called my name a little after 7 a.m.
And that I soon found myself in a bed - a bed!
Where I promptly experienced my deepest insight:
Zzzzzzzzzzz.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Walsh's humor column runs on Mondays. Reach him at (856) 486-2646 or [email protected]
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m021405g.htm
So let's see, he complains about the wait time in the Emergency Department but makes no mention as to why the wait times are there (i.e. lack of inpatient hospital beds, people coming to the ED for unnecessary problems, the ED serving as a safety net for the health care community).
He complains about his body rebelling against a recent elective procedure that he cannot talk about because it is a famliy paper not a family-planning paper (Can we say Vasectomy). Yet, what he fails to elaborate on is that he wound up in the ED at 12:30 am on a Saturday night and he was able to get care. Surely his primary doctor would not see him after he had complications from this "elective procedure".
I don't know..I am probalby overreacting; however, it just frustrates me when people view the ED as the route of all problems yet in reality the back up is caused by internal issues in the hospital. That and the fact that many EDs are not large enough due to the health care system years ago really stating that EDs would not be needed as primary care doctors would handle things.
Anyone want to flood him with e-mails stating our case?
Here is the article:
ER visit becomes long night's journey into day
Monday, February 14, 2005
Strong people fight back against adversity. Lesser folks just moan and complain.
But columnists have another option. We can whip out a notebook and jot down pithy observations.
Then we can use these gems later - when we moan and complain in print.
I got to play this game a few weeks ago, when I hurried to a local emergency room about 12:30 a.m. with a painful internal problem - then sat, and sat, and sat some more.
Ultimately, I waited almost seven hours to see a doctor.
"This is sooo great!" I thought, scribbling and squirming in an uncomfortable chair in a lobby at Virtua West Jersey Hospital, Voorhees.
"This column - ouch! - will practically - urrghh! - write itself."
And indeed, I had many cool insights. (Sadly, none were induced by painkillers.)
Gee, this lobby is brightly lit and pretty loud. Not a clock in sight. And the other patrons resemble zombies as they stumble in from the night.ADVERTISEMENT - CLICK TO ENLARGE OR VISIT WEBSITE
Featured Advertisers All Shore Ballyhugh Credit Care Advertise with us!
Why, it's just like a casino - only it pays off in pain!
Plus, it provides entertainment.
Four overhead TVs pump out a bland mix of infomercials and public-affairs programs. It's the media equivalent of hospital food.
As half-hour segments crawl by, I ponder my need for exercise equipment, for a steam-cleaning appliance, for a soul-music collection.
About 5 a.m., a televised Mass begins.
I think about calling my mom, who's been urging me to go to church for the past few decades. But I can imagine her response: "If you ever bothered to pray, they would have treated you already."
I scan several news magazines - just a little outdated with cover stories about the presidential debates.
Oh, I'd sleep like a baby if I could hear one more speech by John Kerry.
My fellow patients also provide amusement. Everyone checks in at a desk in an open area, where symptoms are easily overheard.
Welcome, Toothache Guy. Hello, Spider-Bite Woman. Boy, that's one swollen finger!
And me? Let's just say my body had rebelled against a recent elective procedure that I can't describe in detail here.
Because this is a family paper, not a family-planning paper.
It turns out I just timed my emergency poorly.
Saturday nights are always bad in any ER - and this one, in early January, was worse due in part to the impact of cold-weather ailments and holiday-season stress, explained Dr. James Dwyer, Virtua's chief medical officer.
"We certainly feel badly," he told me in an interview, noting a wait of two to three hours is considered troublesome. "Our norm is 30 patients and they were dealing with 61 that night."
But even long nights end eventually.
I can tell you that dawn spread its rosy glow across the sky like some sort of untreated rash. That a staffer finally called my name a little after 7 a.m.
And that I soon found myself in a bed - a bed!
Where I promptly experienced my deepest insight:
Zzzzzzzzzzz.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Walsh's humor column runs on Mondays. Reach him at (856) 486-2646 or [email protected]
