GM teaching hospitals?

[Niteshift]

One of our local hospitals, the busiest one, formed an unusual partnership with General Motors.

This hospital has a notorious reputation for long waits, 5 hours or more is not uncommon. I know my mother was brought in by ambulance with chest pains and dizziness. Over 3 hours passed and she still hadn't seen a doctor. After they told her it would probably be another 1 to 1 1/2 hours, she signed herself out.

Anyway, with tourist season, and an overwhelming number of senior citizens, looming in the horizon, GM efficiency experts came in and offered suggestions to streamline the ER process. So far, the hospital claims a hour is being saved off most visits.

GM does have a little bit of an ulterior motive. With a huge number of GM retirees in FL, this helps cut their health care costs too. GM claims that they spend more on retiree health care in FL than they do on steel for their cars.

Anyone else ever heard of something like this?

[Mitzi]

I haven't heard of that. But there was a company here (forget the name) that helped a hospital open an "Urgent Care" center. This is not for life threatening emergenicies but things like cut, fevers, infections, that kind of stuff. It's been very popular, especially on the weekends. My husband had to go there when he got an eye infection that worsened on Saturday. He was seen pretty quickly too.
Just before it opened, I had to take my son to the emegency room when he had a bad seizure. We waited 4 hours and the seizure was over by the time they got to him. They just sent him home and told him to see his own dr. That night, he had another one and I called his dr who told me to take him to the emergency room. I told him what happened and he just blew up because David could suffer brain damage from these seizures.
He met us over there and he was NOT a happy camper. Now, I just have to take him to the Urgent Care center where the dr has standing orders for what to do. It's so much nicer.

[ 10-22-2001: Message edited by: Mitzi ]

[Niteshift]

We've had those a long time, called Centra Care here. My doctor calls them "Doc in a box"

[Zamboni]

I took a kid I arrested to the hospital two weeks ago for a jail clearance. Turned out he had done a lot of meth that night and was starting to have overdose complications. I got him into the waiting room and was told it would be quite a while before a doctor could see him. He went into convulsions during the wait and still no medical help would come. I grabbed a wheelchair and rolled him back to the actual ER while the receptionist told me I would have to wait my turn. Meanwhile the kid is still seizing. Once I got him back there the doctors saw his condition and took immediate action but if I hadn't done that the receptionist would have made us wait god no knows how long.

[SGT Dave]

The ONLY reason I haven't b****slapped the receptionists, is I had a very good friend, who is one of the sweetest girls on earth, work as one for many years, and I know thats what the hospital conditions them to do. Everytime I go through this, or am with someone who has to go through this, I get a moment of pause by remembering her and thinking "It's just their job. It's just their job..."

My dad was having respiratory probs earlier this year, and we took him POV to the ER. With him almost gasping, we sat there while they made my mom look through his wallet for an insurance card. She was too nice; after going through it three times (it was OBVIOUSLY not there the FIRST time, but they insisted that they needed it, and mom, who is a nice sweet old lady, and would never say anything to remotely offend them, just didn't know what to do, so she kept fumbling with his wallet, acting or hoping it would "magically appear" on the 2nd, or 3rd go around) I finally stepped forward and said "It's obviously not there-I guess you're going to have to sign him in without it, and well find it later." They did, and we still had to wait for a room. I am normally quiet and docile and will not say anything, UNTIL I'VE HAD TOO MUCH. With family, and this stupid procedure-I know it's needed, but they acted as if daddy could not be even LOOKED AT until we found his card-and we know thats not the case-"TOO MUCH" comes awfully quick.

I know they are not the only flaw in the US healthcare system, but they are certainly the most aggravating at certain times.